Results for “Games” — Page 61

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Dust Mitigation Technology to Enable Survive the Night Capabilities

Introduction: As we return to the Moon, the lunar regolith (i.e. lunar dust) covering the surface will be an obstacle to nominal operations. Accounts from Apollo astronauts and analysis of hardware returned from the surface illustrate just how deleterious the dust can be [1]. During Apollo missions, the lunar dust adhered to hardware mechanically and electrostatically [2]. Surviving the Night: Mitigating the lunar dust will be critical to surviving the night. Going hand-in-hand with other extreme environment considerations, dust mitigation is critical to mission success. Dust Impacts on Other Systems: The lunar dust can have negative implications for power, thermal, mechanisms, and several other systems or sub-systems. For example, Apollo encountered marked degradation of performance in heat rejection systems for the lunar roving vehicle, science packages, and other components because of the lunar dust [1]. For power alone, dust can cause internal clogging for power connectors, heat rejection issues, excessive dust on reflective surfaces, reduced power output for solar arrays, and so on. Dust Mitigation Strategy: In addition to considering technology solutions, it is important for hardware, systems, and or components to have a dust mitigation strategy. At a high level, hardware that will encounter the lunar dust should consider these things when defining a dust mitigation strategy: • Understand Natural Environment • Understand Induced Environment • Understand Tolerance to Dust • Write Dust Requirements • Select Dust Mitigation Solutions • Test Hardware in Dusty Environment More information on each of these can be provided to hardware owners. Dust Mitigation Technology Development: NASA has a series of technologies that may be available for hardware that needs to survive the lunar night. Many of these solutions are leveraging dust mitigation technology development efforts from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), as well as efforts from ESDMD programs, industry, and academia. Through a series of STMD programs (both internal to NASA and through partnerships), there are several technologies in development as considerations as dust mitigation solutions for hardware. Within STMD, the Game Changing Development Program (GCD) has funded several internal dust mitigation projects including low to mid TRL development, demonstrations on CLPS landers of high TRL solutions, and creating standards and best practices for dust mitigation. STMD dust mitigation efforts also include a series of partnerships for developing technologies and advancing the state of dust mitigation at NASA. This includes the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC), Small Business Innovation Research, Early Stage Innovations (ESI), Space Technology Research Grants (STRG), Announcement of Collaboration Opportunities (ACOs) and Tipping Points (TPs), and Challenges and Crowdsourcing, among others. There are also a series of dust mitigation solutions that have been widely used terrestrially, or during Apollo. In recent years, several studies have produced more data on the efficacy of these potential solutions in the lunar environment. Dust Mitigation Solutions: Dust mitigation solutions generally fall into four categories: • Dust Tolerant Mechanisms • Passive Dust Mitigation Capabilities • Active Dust Mitigation Capabilities • Dust Measurement Capabilities There are a series of solutions that may prove beneficial for hardware that needs to survive the lunar night, including new technology development as well as proven, terrestrial solutions. This presentation will discuss in more detail what some of these solutions are for payloads going to the surface. References: [1] J. R. Gaier, NASA/TM—2005-213610, The Effects of Lunar Dust on EVA Systems During the Apollo Missions [2] T. J. Stubbs, et al. Impact of Dust on Lunar Exploration, 2005

dust mitigation↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cooperative Clustering Techniques Applied to Contact Graph Routing

Routing in the space internet has to face many unique challenges - from unplanned disconnections and interruptions to predictable intermittent connectivity due to high network mobility and long propagation delays. NASA’s current approach to such routing is Contact Graph Routing (CGR), using a graph formed of prescheduled communication contacts to compute routes through the network. While this approach manages to tackle issues of connectivity and propagation delays, it is a global approach that requires continuous knowledge of the entire network. In a potential future Solar Space Internet (SSI) such an approach on its own cannot scale to large networks with thousands of members. In this presentation we propose clustering as a solution to CGR scalability. Clustering has been used in many networking problems as a way to subdivide the network and allow for localized routing and better scalability. Using techniques from graph theory and game theory, we explore various existing clustering algorithms and adapt them to the Contact Graph Routing setting. Finally, we propose a way to combine multiple algorithms to create a Delay Tolerant Clustering Protocol.

Yael Kirkpatrick↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Interplay of Humor and Team Cohesion Over Time

Team bonding and interpersonal relationships are increasingly important as we continue understanding the effects of the pandemic on team dynamics. Specifically, team cohesion, defined as having a sense of belonging and commitment towards the group, has been found to be important for key team outcomes such as performance, relationships, and productivity (Beal, Cohen, Burke, & McLendon, 2003; Bell & Marentette, 2011). Research has stressed the benefits of positive humor on cohesion, with humor creating positive emotions and decreasing social distance (e.g., Robert & Wilbanks, 2012; Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 2001; Romero & Pescosolido, 2008). However, research around the impact of negative humor on cohesion is scarce. This study aims to examine the impact of both positive and negative humor on cohesion for teams over time. The longitudinal design allows us to examine the interplay of humor and cohesion throughout a team’s lifecycle to guide relationship development and management (Romero & Pescosolido, 2008). Humor is defined as remarks recognized as amusing or funny (Martin, 2007). Positive humor can be categorized as good-natured aimed to create mutual agreement, while negative humor is defined as aggressive, hostile, and unreciprocated (Coan & Gottman, 2007). Research has concluded the many benefits of positive humor, showing it can increase open communication, social support, and create a pleasant environment (Martineau, 1972; Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 2001; Romero & Pescosolido, 2008). The Humor Wheel model suggests that positive humor is contagious due to the positive affect produced and mimicked (Lehmann-Willenbrock & Allen 2014). Research has suggested positive humor would increase over time based on the norm of reciprocity; those treated positively are likely to respond similarly (Gouldner, 1960). Multiple parties’ involvement in humor exchanges highlights the interpersonal nature of humor. Thus, long-term consequences on relationships should be considered, such as cohesion (Robert & Wilbanks, 2012). It would be instrumental to understand how humor interactions could weaken or strengthen group cohesion through relational and emotional bonds over time (Martineau, 1972; Romero & Pescosolido, 2008). Positive humor should fundamentally increase team cohesion (Mesmer-Magnus, Glew, & Viswesvaran, 2012; Walter & Baruch, 2008) by promoting group harmony, team member attractiveness, and ingroup identity (Holmes, 2006). Thus, it is expected there is a positive relationship between positive humor and team cohesion over time (hypothesis 1). Humor is not always beneficial, especially when it elicits negative emotions (Dikkers, Doosje, & de Lange, 2011). Negative humor can be used to humiliate, tease, or insult (Coan & Gottman, 2007; Collinson, 1988; Romero & Cruthirds, 2006). It tends to cause distress and damage relationships, and in turn, decrease organizational performance and production (Avolio, Howell, & Sosik, 1999; Janes & Olson, 2000; Yerkes, 2001). Research concludes negative humor may create subgroups and decrease cooperation (Romero & Arendt, 2011). Research has also indicated positive implications for negative humor under specific circumstances. Negative humor could help to solidify ingroup identity and strengthen bonds when directed outside the team (Terrion & Ashforth, 2002; Thomae & Pina, 2015). For example, sport teams may use negative humor towards their opponent before a game, which emphasizes their differences and lowers the status and power of their opponent, ultimately promoting solidarity and cohesion inside the group. For this study, it is anticipated that negative humor toward other teammates will decrease team cohesion over time due to the damage to relationships and negative affect produced (Duncan, Smeltzer, & Leap, 1990; Maples, Dupey, Torres‐Rivera, Phan, Vereen, & Garrett, 2001). We also predicted that negative humor focused on something or someone outside the team will increase cohesion by enhancing ingroup ties and creating a common identity (Thomae & Pina, 2015). Thus, the relationship between negative humor and cohesion will be moderated by the target of the humor. The relationship will be negative when the target is within the team and positive when the target is outside (hypothesis 2).

Melissa M. Vazquez↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Qualitative Comparison of Pathfinder Three-Dimensional Transient Gas Granular Simulation Results to Imagery from a Subscale, Reduced Pressure Plume Surface Interaction Ground Test

NASA’s Game Changing Development Program, funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, the development of simulation capability for the prediction of extra-terrestrial Plume Surface Interaction (PSI) environments has been undertaken by the Fluid Dynamics Branch at NASA/MSFC. The PSI Project, planned to be completed over a four year period, contains a Predictive Simulation Capability (PSC) Element focused on creating simulation capability for the reliable and accurate prediction of PSI in Martian (~600 Pa) and Lunar (vacuum) ambient environments. In addition to the PSC Element, the PSI Project also contains a companion Ground Testing Element for development of focused datasets for validation of predictive capability as well as a Flight-focused Instrumentation Element. This paper describes the first Pathfinder three-dimensional, transient simulation of the test configuration used to acquire erosion and cratering test data as part of the Physics Focused Ground Test conducted by the PSI Project in FY2021. This first pathfinder simulation was conducted using the Loci/GGFS (Gas Granular Flow Solver), a computational fluid dynamics tool developed in part with funding provided by the PSI Project. Crater growth and ejecta flow paths from the pathfinder simulation is compared to raw high-speed imagery PFGT results of the crater growth. There is significant similarity of test and simulation to warrant expending resources on a more rigorous quantitative Validation Assessment.

J S West↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

UASs Optimization - An evaluation of multiple mode vehicles in monitoring and communication

This presentation will describe the author's experience as Co-I in the NASA/USFS Project: "Strategic Tac Radio and Tac Overwatch (STRATO): Last Mile Communications and Realtime Observation Stratospheric Platforms for wildland fire". This project utilizes an uncrewed Stratospheric (> 70Kft) lighter than air Uninhabited Aerial System (UAS), carries 50 Kg of sensor and communications equipment, and remains on station over a wildfire for up to 30 days. The air vehicle is capable of in excess of 180 days on station, but while the full duration capabilities were not utilized in this project, they could, and would, be used in monitoring a feature like a volcano. In addition to duration, the ability of these Stratospheric Platforms to persistently monitor an area, while carrying "smart" sensors - generating information products, rather than just data - is game changing. Utilizing technologies such as LoRa, the platform can now be the nexus of an ad-hoc sensor web, receiving LoRa based data from low power in-situ sensors in the area being monitored, combining it with high fidelity information gained from on-board sensors, and sending the information product to a remote research facility, using Satellite communication, in real time. The author will relate the evolution of information collection, derivation and delivery mechanisms in the entire range of NASA's UAS fleet, to today's world, where information products conventionally derived in desk top computational environments, and made available to the Science Community in weeks or months, are now being generated and delivered in near real time.

UASs↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Qualitative Comparison of Pathfinder Three-Dimensional Transient Gas Granular Simulation Results to Imagery from a Subscale, Reduced Pressure Plume Surface Interaction Ground Test

NASA’s Game Changing Development Program, funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, the development of simulation capability for the prediction of extra-terrestrial Plume Surface Interaction (PSI) environments has been undertaken by the Fluid Dynamics Branch at NASA/MSFC. The PSI Project, planned to be completed over a four year period, contains a Predictive Simulation Capability (PSC) Element focused on creating simulation capability for the reliable and accurate prediction of PSI in Martian (~600 Pa) and Lunar (vacuum) ambient environments. In addition to the PSC Element, the PSI Project also contains a companion Ground Testing Element for development of focused datasets for validation of predictive capability as well as a Flight-focused Instrumentation Element. This paper describes the first Pathfinder three-dimensional, transient simulation of the test configuration used to acquire erosion and cratering test data as part of the Physics Focused Ground Test conducted by the PSI Project in FY2021. This first pathfinder simulation was conducted using the Loci/GGFS (Gas Granular Flow Solver), a computational fluid dynamics tool developed in part with funding provided by the PSI Project. Crater growth and ejecta flow paths from the pathfinder simulation is compared to raw high-speed imagery PFGT results of the crater growth. There is significant similarity of test and simulation to warrant expending resources on a more rigorous quantitative Validation Assessment.

Jeff West↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Material Trade for Additively Manufactured Regenerative Chambers

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is a game changing technology with advantages over chemical propulsion systems for deep space missions but comes with many engineering challenges. This paper focuses on the challenge of material selection for a regeneratively-cooled chamber for use in a nuclear environment with minimal design margins. Chemical compatibility with reactants and products following energy extraction (be it through combustion or neutron bombardment) must be considered. Similarly, mechanical and thermophysical properties (e.g., density, thermal conductivity, yield strength, etc.) as functions of temperature are critical. While hydrogen embrittlement environment (HEE) is a risk and consideration for traditional chemical combustion chambers, application in a nuclear thermal engine adds additional material compatibility and resilience requirements to long-term nuclear radiation exposure. Chamber materials in this trade included, but were not limited to, A-286, Haynes 230, Haynes 282, CRES 347, GRCop-42, GRCop-84, Inconel 625, JBK-75, and NASA HR-1. The material trade focuses on modern additive manufacturing techniques and hypothetical geometric constraints.

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Feasibility Study of Distributed Decision-Making on the Edge for Urban Air Mobility

The Concept of Operations for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) put forward by FAA, NASA, and several industry stakeholders acknowledges the diversity and complexity in UAM operations and, thereby, envisions a federated architecture for UAM management. In this architecture, the decision-making is distributed to a set of service providers who collectively manage the shared airspace usage by different stakeholders. This notionally brings autonomy closer to the UAM businesses and encourages to explore the feasibility of decision making on the very edge, which is the topic of the presented research. This paper reports research conducted on the hypothesis based on which the residual compute capability onboard smart unmanned aerial systems (UASs) is utilized to build situational awareness and resolve conflicts by passive and active coordination among multiple UASs, thereby implementing a layer of distributed autonomy in UAM. Key features of the edge-computing approach involve inter-UAS information exchange, independent assessment of own flight and environmental conditions, and estimation of other UASs’ flight preferences, incorporating machine learning techniques in the last two. Parallel computing on portable graphics processing unit (GPU) enables the machine learning workflow on the edge. A custom-built 3D simulator is used to evaluate the efficacy of the distributed decision-making on the edge. Each edge node, representing a smart UAS, connects to the simulator from a remote location and independently controls the behavior of the corresponding virtual asset in the simulator, analogous to participants in an online multi-player game. The presented edge-computing-based distributed decision-making framework is envisioned to pave the way for collective mobility of autonomous air vehicles in the future shared airspace, while allowing the inclusion of the business preferences of the UAS operators within allowed regulatory limits.

Edge computing↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Feasibility Study of Distributed Decision-Making on the Edge for Urban Air Mobility

The Concept of Operations for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) put forward by FAA, NASA, and several industry stakeholders acknowledges the diversity and complexity in UAM operations and, thereby, envisions a federated architecture for UAM management. In this architecture, the decision-making is distributed to a set of service providers who collectively manage the shared airspace usage by different stakeholders. This notionally brings autonomy closer to the UAM businesses and encourages to explore the feasibility of decision making on the very edge, which is the topic of the presented research. This paper reports research conducted on the hypothesis based on which the residual compute capability onboard smart unmanned aerial systems (UASs) is utilized to build situational awareness and resolve conflicts by passive and active coordination among multiple UASs, thereby implementing a layer of distributed autonomy in UAM. Key features of the edge-computing approach involve inter-UAS information exchange, independent assessment of own flight and environmental conditions, and estimation of other UASs’ flight preferences, incorporating machine learning techniques in the last two. Parallel computing on portable graphics processing unit (GPU) enables the machine learning workflow on the edge. A custom-built 3D simulator is used to evaluate the efficacy of the distributed decision-making on the edge. Each edge node, representing a smart UAS, connects to the simulator from a remote location and independently controls the behavior of the corresponding virtual asset in the simulator, analogous to participants in an online multi-player game. The presented edge-computing-based distributed decision-making framework is envisioned to pave the way for collective mobility of autonomous air vehicles in the future shared airspace, while allowing the inclusion of the business preferences of the UAS operators within allowed regulatory limits.

Edge computing↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Material Trade for Additively Manufactured Regenerative Chambers

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is a game changing technology with advantages over chemical propulsion systems for deep space missions but comes with many engineering challenges. This paper focuses on the challenge of material selection for a regeneratively-cooled chamber for use in a nuclear environment with minimal design margins. Chemical compatibility with reactants and products following energy extraction (be it through combustion or neutron bombardment) must be considered. Similarly, mechanical and thermophysical properties (e.g., density, thermal conductivity, yield strength, etc.) as functions of temperature are critical. While hydrogen embrittlement environment (HEE) is a risk and consideration for traditional chemical combustion chambers, application in a nuclear thermal engine adds additional material compatibility and resilience requirements to long-term nuclear radiation exposure. Chamber materials in this trade included, but were not limited to, A-286, Haynes 230, Haynes 282, CRES 347, GRCop-42, GRCop-84, Inconel 625, JBK-75, and NASA HR-1. The material trade focuses on modern additive manufacturing techniques and hypothetical geometric constraints.

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Survive the Dust: Dust Mitigation Technology to Enable Survive the Night Capabilities

Introduction: As we return to the Moon, the lunar regolith (i.e. lunar dust) covering the surface will be an obstacle to nominal operations. Accounts from Apollo astronauts and analysis of hardware returned from the surface illustrate just how deleterious the dust can be [1]. During Apollo missions, the lunar dust adhered to hardware mechanically and electrostatically [2]. Surviving the Night: Mitigating the lunar dust will be critical to surviving the night. Going hand-in-hand with other extreme environment considerations, dust mitigation is critical to mission success. Dust Impacts on Other Systems: The lunar dust can have negative implications for power, thermal, mechanisms, and several other systems or sub-systems. For example, Apollo encountered marked degradation of performance in heat rejection systems for the lunar roving vehicle, science packages, and other components because of the lunar dust [1]. For power alone, dust can cause internal clogging for power connectors, heat rejection issues, excessive dust on reflective surfaces, reduced power output for solar arrays, and so on. Dust Mitigation Strategy: In addition to considering technology solutions, it is important for hardware, systems, and or components to have a dust mitigation strategy. At a high level, hardware that will encounter the lunar dust should consider these things when defining a dust mitigation strategy: • Understand Natural Environment • Understand Induced Environment • Understand Tolerance to Dust • Write Dust Requirements • Select Dust Mitigation Solutions • Test Hardware in Dusty Environment More information on each of these can be provided to hardware owners. Dust Mitigation Technology Development: NASA has a series of technologies that may be available for hardware that needs to survive the lunar night. Many of these solutions are leveraging dust mitigation technology development efforts from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), as well as efforts from ESDMD programs, industry, and academia. Through a series of STMD programs (both internal to NASA and through partnerships), there are several technologies in development as considerations as dust mitigation solutions for hardware. Within STMD, the Game Changing Development Program (GCD) has funded several internal dust mitigation projects including low to mid TRL development, demonstrations on CLPS landers of high TRL solutions, and creating standards and best practices for dust mitigation. STMD dust mitigation efforts also include a series of partnerships for developing technologies and advancing the state of dust mitigation at NASA. This includes the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC), Small Business Innovation Research, Early Stage Innovations (ESI), Space Technology Research Grants (STRG), Announcement of Collaboration Opportunities (ACOs) and Tipping Points (TPs), and Challenges and Crowdsourcing, among others. There are also a series of dust mitigation solutions that have been widely used terrestrially, or during Apollo. In recent years, several studies have produced more data on the efficacy of these potential solutions in the lunar environment. Dust Mitigation Solutions: Dust mitigation solutions generally fall into four categories: • Dust Tolerant Mechanisms • Passive Dust Mitigation Capabilities • Active Dust Mitigation Capabilities • Dust Measurement Capabilities There are a series of solutions that may prove beneficial for hardware that needs to survive the lunar night, including new technology development as well as proven, terrestrial solutions. This presentation will discuss in more detail what some of these solutions are for payloads going to the surface. References: [1] J. R. Gaier, NASA/TM—2005-213610, The Effects of Lunar Dust on EVA Systems During the Apollo Missions [2] T. J. Stubbs, et al. Impact of Dust on Lunar Exploration, 2005

dust mitigation↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Selection and Characterization of the Landing Site for NASA CLPS PRISM1 Lunar Lander Mission CP-11

The NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program delivery known as "CP-11" will carry multiple payloads to the lunar surface in 2024. The payloads include (a) Lunar Vertex, the first science suite sponsored by the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) program, (b) JPL's CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Explorers), a project from the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate's Game Changing Development Program, (c) the Lunar Space Environment Monitor (LUSEM), a high-energy particle detector from the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) and funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea (MSIT), and (d) MPAc (MoonLIGHT Pointing Actuator), a laser retro-reflector developed by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN-LNF) and funded by the European Space Agency.

David T. Blewett↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Development & Test Facility, JSC B351

In anticipation of extended operations on the lunar sur-face, JSC Building B351 has been prepared to meet test needs to mature technologies that extract resources from lunar regolith, handle lunar regolith or must perform in a dusty lunar environment. Domains such as In-Situ Re-source Utilization (ISRU), dust mitigation, power generation and distribution, robotics and surface tools will all require testing with lunar regolith/simulants to demonstrate flight readiness. The Lunar Development and Test Facility (LDTF) houses environmental test capabilities, including lunar simulants, geared toward advancing Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of these lunar surface technologies. Seen as an agency need to enable and demonstrate new technologies, a portion of the facility capability was developed under the “Dirty Lunar Surface Simulation “project in FY2020, funded by the NASA Game Changing Development program. Some current uses include testing of an oxygen extraction from lunar regolith test, a spacesuit cleaning tool evaluation, and a study to measure dust effects on space radiators (thermal management).

Michael Reddington↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) NASA’s First Polar Drilling and Volatiles Detection Mission

The US Administration announced in 2019 that NASA would return to the Moon where it would seek to establish a sustainable lunar presence. In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is needed to sustain and grow hu-man surface exploration and it is therefore a vital part of ensuring this bold endeavor. ISRU requires ground-truth on physical, mineral, and volatile characteristics of the resources. Water, a key and game-changing resource, exists in the polar regions of the Moon. Learning to harvest and use this resource first requires understanding where the resource is abundantly located and on what scales. Harvested water, which is usable for life support and fuel, must be identified, quantified, and assessed for its mining feasibility. The project goal for PRIME-1 is to develop a flight-ready instrumentation package that can assess the volatiles at a polar lunar landing location. PRIME-1 is the combination of two instruments; Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo) and The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT). TRIDENT is an 1-meter augering drill capable of bringing incremental lunar regolith samples to the surface for volatile analysis. MSolo is a modified, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) mass spectrometer capable of qualifying and quantifying atomic species in the 1-100 amu range, including isotopic differentiation. These two lunar flight instruments operating together make up the PRIME-1 instrument suite. PRIME-1 intends to fly on and operate from a static lunar lander acquired by the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) acquisition process. The PRIME-1 payload suite was selected to fly on Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander, and is currently targeting a late Fall 2023 landing attempt.

MSolo↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Aerial Vehicle Routing and Scheduling for UAS Traffic Management: A Monte Carlo Tree Search Approach

Numerous unmanned aircraft systems operating at low altitudes to deliver goods and services may one day become ubiquitous in our cities. In the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) framework, such a concept is envisioned, where aerial vehicles operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) within specifically reserved and time stamped “corridors” in the airspace. For example, these corridors or operational intent volumes can connect an aerial vehicle’s origin site to its destination site for package delivery operations. There may also be more than one corridor available for an aerial vehicle to choose from and often different corridors may intersect with one another. Thus, it is imperative to ensure flight trajectories belonging to different aerial vehicles are not in conflict. Per the UTM CONOPs, we assume that a vehicle almost always stays inside its corridor or operational volume. This work provides a framework for strategic deconfliction of UTM or package delivery drones, where we schedule the departure time of all vehicles subject to various temporal constraints (including the corridor deconfliction at the intersections). We present the “multi-route weighted package delivery problem” which serves as an exemplifying model for strategic deconfliction in UTM. In the multi-route weighted package delivery problem, a graph network is given which consists of a set of depots (source) and drop-off (destination) nodes, with multiple routes (defined as a sequence of waypoints) connecting the depots to drop-off nodes. In addition, routes are weighted by the associated ground risk and total travel distance for package delivery. The goal is for a known set of aerial vehicles to depart from the depots, choose a route and take off time, while avoiding conflicts with other aerial vehicles, and minimizing both risk and distance traveled. We provide a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation of the problem, as well as a heuristic solution based on Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) – a method used in game theory and artificial intelligence – to overcome limitations inherent to optimal solvers. Computational results show the advantages of using MCTS over the MILP formulation; the former can provide a sub-optimal solution quickly, and may sometimes even reach an optimal solution, whereas the latter may not even produce a solution in reasonable time. Furthermore, results from both the MILP formulation and MCTS methods were validated using a preliminary agent-based simulator implementing the UTM concept of operations. Thus, the MCTS method can be seen as a scalable solution to the complex multi-route weighted package delivery problem and may possibly be extended to similar complex optimization problems.

Kenny Chour↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Identifying Neutron Irradiation in Space to Mitigate Bio-Medical Effects

One of the primary challenges to interplanetary human travel is mitigation of radiation expo-sure. As fast transit with LENR driven or conventional nuclear electric (NEP) or thermal propulsion (NTP) may be imminent, time and level of radiation exposure composingALARA (As Low as Rea-sonably Achievable) must be ascertained rapidly and precisely. Since acute physiological effects are difficult to detect, and chronic effects on crew health are delayed and potentially trans-generational, improved detection technologies will be game-changing and an essential element of the crew health monitoring and environmental protection toolkit.Secondary Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) induced neutrons are an additional hazard.

space medicine↗

NASA NTRS2022

Radiation Effects Characterization and System Architecture Options for the 7nm Snapdragon SA8155P Automotive Grade System on Chip (SoC)

The SA8155P SoC is a complex heterogeneous computational platform with CPUs, GPU, DSPs and NPU. The SA8155P is a 7 TOPS/7 Watts capable AI/ML platform and as such represents a game changing breakthrough in terms computational power for space applications. We characterize the TID and SEE effects of the Qualcomm SA8155P Automotive grade SoC. Individual sub-system testing as well as application specific full device testing was conducted. We also discuss the commercial and automotive recovery mechanisms that are available with the SA8155P SoC generation and how those can form the basis for resilient architecture options for use in future space missions

Allen, Greg↗

NASA NTRS2023

Southern Idaho Ecological Conservation: Investigating the Impact of Targeted Grazing to Improve Wetland Habitat in the Sterling Wildlife Management Area

Wetland ecosystems are vital for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. The Sterling Wildlife Management Area in Bingham County, Idaho, has management concerns about decadent and accumulated vegetation growth encroaching on wetland habitat, which presents challenges for wildlife, decreases biodiversity, and limits public access. Targeted grazing has been proposed as a sustainable alternative to chemical herbicides or burning. Land managers introduced targeted cattle grazing in January 2021 to reduce biomass. NASA DEVELOP partnered with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to determine the impact of grazing using NASA Earth observations from Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) in Google Earth Engine (GEE). Images were processed with TerrSet’s Land Change Modeler and ArcGIS Pro’s Change Detection Wizard to understand land changes following grazing. A Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis was performed to assess impacts on vegetation productivity and compare variance in biomass before and after grazing. A Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) was used to compare changes in the wetland and its vegetation content to evaluate the suitability of the area for migratory birds post-grazing. Results showed a decrease in the vegetation index and an increase in the water index postgrazing. The DEVELOP team’s analysis suggests that grazing helps break down thick, senesced vegetation and increase soil moisture. Providing a workflow model will aid partners in continuing to monitor this management area and other management areas across the state.

change detection↗