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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 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-536: LINAC-Based Single Isocenter Frameless SRT for Brain Metastases

Purpose: Single-isocenter Stereotactic Radiotherapy of multiple brain metastases with Varian 21 IX LINAC, using Aktina Pinpoint system for patient setup. Methods: In 2014, five single-isocenter RapidArc SRT plans were delivered to five patients with 2 to 8 brain metastases using Varian 21 IX. Aktina Pinpoint system was used for setup and 2mm PTV margin were used. CBCT was acquired before and after the beam delivery. The prescription is 2100 cGy in 3 fractions. Eclipse planning system was used for treatment planning. Depending on the number of metastases and their locations, 1 to 5 coplanar or non coplanar arcs were used. Typically, 2 or 3 arcs are used. IMRT QAs were performed by comparing an A1SL ion chamber point dose measurement in solid water phantom to point dose of the plan; also, based on EPID measurement, 3D spatial dose was calculated using DosimetryCheck software package from MathResolutions Inc. The EPID system has an active area of 40cm by 30cm with 1024 by 768 photodiodes, which corresponds to a resolution of 0.4mm by 0.4mm pixel dimension. Results: for all the plans, at least 95% PTV coverage was achieved for full prescription dose, with plan normalization > 75%. RTOG conformity indices are less than 1.1 and Paddick gradient indices are less than 4.5. The distance from prescription IDL to 50% IDL increases as the number of metastases increases, and it ranges from 0.6mm to 0.8mm. Treatment time varies from 10mins to 30mins, depending on the number of arcs and if the arcs are coplanar. IMRT QA shows that the ion chamber measurement agree with the eclipse calculation within 3%, and 95% of the points passed Gamma, using 3% dose difference and 3mm DTA Conclusion: High quality single isocenter RapidArc SRT plan can be optimized and accurately delivered using Eclipse and Varian 21IX.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2023

PluginPlay: Enabling exascale scientific software one module at a time

For many computational chemistry packages, being able to efficiently and effectively scale across an exascale cluster is a heroic feat. Collective experience from the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project suggests that achieving exascale performance requires far more planning, design, and optimization than scaling to petascale. In many cases, entire rewrites of software are necessary to address fundamental algorithmic bottlenecks. This in turn requires a tremendous amount of resources and development time, resources that cannot reasonably be afforded by every computational science project. It thus becomes imperative that computational science transition to a more sustainable paradigm. Key to such a paradigm is modular software. While the importance of modular software is widely recognized, what is perhaps not so widely appreciated is the effort still required to leverage modular software in a sustainable manner. The present manuscript introduces PluginPlay, https://github.com/NWChemEx-Project/PluginPlay, an inversion-of-control framework designed to facilitate developing, maintaining, and sustaining modular scientific software packages. Here this manuscript focuses on the design aspects of PluginPlay and how they specifically influence the performance of the resulting package. Although, PluginPlay serves as the framework for the NWChemEx package, PluginPlay is not tied to NWChemEx or even computational chemistry. We thus anticipate PluginPlay to prove to be a generally useful tool for a number of computational science packages looking to transition to the exascale.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2006

Version 5 Release Status and Plans: AIRS Science Team

This viewgraph presentation reviews the development of version 5 of Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) software. The overarching goal for version 5 is to enhance AIRS software to expand its utility for climate research and to improve the impact on weather forecasting.

focus group↗
NASA NTRS2005

Sequence System Building Blocks: Using a Component Architecture for Sequencing Software

Over the last few years software engineering has made significant strides in making more flexible architectures and designs possible. However, at the same time, spacecraft have become more complex and flight software has become more sophisticated. Typically spacecraft are often one-of-a-kind entities that have different hardware designs, different capabilities, different instruments, etc. Ground software has become more complex and operations teams have had to learn a myriad of tools that all have different user interfaces and represent data in different ways. At Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) these themes have collided to require an new approach to producing ground system software. Two different groups have been looking at tackling this particular problem. One group is working for the JPL Mars Technology Program in the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Focused Technology area. The other group is the JPL Multi-Mission Planning and Sequencing Group . The major concept driving these two approaches on a similar path is to provide software that can be a more cohesive flexible system that provides a act of planning and sequencing system of services. This paper describes the efforts that have been made to date to create a unified approach from these disparate groups.

flexible architectures↗
DOE OSTI2016

A software-aided workflow for precinct-scale residential redevelopment

Growing urban populations, combined with environmental challenges, have placed significant pressure on urban planning to supply housing while addressing policy issues such as sustainability, affordability, and liveability. The interrelated nature of these issues, combined with the requirement of evidence-based planning, has made decision-making so complex that urban planners need to combine expertise on energy, water, carbon emissions, transport and economic development along with other bodies of knowledge necessary to make well-informed decisions. This paper presents two geospatial software systems that can assist in the mediation of complexity, by allowing users to assess a variety of planning metrics without expert knowledge in those disciplines. Using Envision and Envision Scenario Planner (ESP), both products of the Greening the Greyfields research project funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) in Australia, we demonstrate a workflow for identifying potential redevelopment precincts and designing and assessing possible redevelopment scenarios to optimise planning outcomes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Supporting Exploration Missions by Enabling Exploration Mission System Software

Future exploration missions will consist of a multitude of data sources, systems, and operators collaborating to complete mission objectives. Presently, NASA is instantiating the contractual mechanisms, such as the xEVAS and HLS contracts, to produce these mission assets. Architectural planning is also underway to establish the networking protocols and infrastructure to digitally create and connect mission elements, such as LunaNET. However, without new horizontally integrated data systems, these advancements will be limited in their ability to get mission data appropriately integrated into the plan, train, fly, explore workflow of the operations workforce. Here we describe several mission system software development efforts underway that are designed to support human spaceflight missions. We describe the current iterations of a suite of tools to support EVA procedure authoring and execution, for both ISS and Artemis missions, as well as a software solution to establish and interact with mission context and data products. These tools have been developed iteratively and continue to be tested in several NASA facilities such as the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL), Artemis field testing, and in present-day International Space Station (ISS) operations on orbit. Our solutions demonstrate how software development can be aligned with ongoing operations development activities to discover the features that best support future human spaceflight missions.

EVA Mission System Software↗
NASA NTRS1994

The IUE Science Operations Ground System

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) Science Operations System provides full realtime operations capabilities and support to the operations staff and astronomer users. The components of this very diverse and extremely flexible hardware and software system have played a major role in maintaining the scientific efficiency and productivity of the IUE. The software provides the staff and user with all the tools necessary for pre-visit and real-time planning and operations analysis for any day of the year. Examples of such tools include the effects of spacecraft constraints on target availability, maneuver times between targets, availability of guide stars, target identification, coordinate transforms, e-mail transfer of Observatory forms and messages, and quick-look analysis of image data. Most of this extensive software package can also be accessed remotely by individual users for information, scheduling of shifts, pre-visit planning, and actual observing program execution. Astronomers, with a modest investment in hardware and software, may establish remote observing sites. We currently have over 20 such sites in our remote observers' network.

Pitts, Ronald E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

GSC configuration management plan

The tools and methods used for the configuration management of the artifacts (including software and documentation) associated with the Guidance and Control Software (GCS) project are described. The GCS project is part of a software error studies research program. Three implementations of GCS are being produced in order to study the fundamental characteristics of the software failure process. The Code Management System (CMS) is used to track and retrieve versions of the documentation and software. Application of the CMS for this project is described and the numbering scheme is delineated for the versions of the project artifacts.

Withers, B. Edward↗
NASA NTRS1998

NASA Year 2000 (Y2K) Program Plan

NASA initiated the Year 2000 (Y2K) program in August 1996 to address the challenges imposed on Agency software, hardware, and firmware systems by the new millennium. The Agency program is centrally managed by the NASA Chief Information Officer, with decentralized execution of program requirements at each of the nine NASA Centers, Headquarters and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The purpose of this Program Plan is to establish Program objectives and performance goals; identify Program requirements; describe the management structure; and detail Program resources, schedules, and controls. Project plans are established for each NASA Center, Headquarters, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2007

Cassini's Test Methodology for Flight Software Verification and Operations

The Cassini spacecraft was launched on 15 October 1997 on a Titan IV-B launch vehicle. The spacecraft is comprised of various subsystems, including the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem (AACS). The AACS Flight Software (FSW) and its development has been an ongoing effort, from the design, development and finally operations. As planned, major modifications to certain FSW functions were designed, tested, verified and uploaded during the cruise phase of the mission. Each flight software upload involved extensive verification testing. A standardized FSW testing methodology was used to verify the integrity of the flight software. This paper summarizes the flight software testing methodology used for verifying FSW from pre-launch through the prime mission, with an emphasis on flight experience testing during the first 2.5 years of the prime mission (July 2004 through January 2007).

Cassini Mission↗
NASA NTRS1992

Designer's unified cost model

A conceptual and preliminary designers' cost prediction model has been initiated. The model will provide a technically sound method for evaluating the relative cost of different composite structural designs, fabrication processes, and assembly methods that can be compared to equivalent metallic parts or assemblies. The feasibility of developing cost prediction software in a modular form for interfacing with state of the art preliminary design tools and computer aided design programs is being evaluated. The goal of this task is to establish theoretical cost functions that relate geometric design features to summed material cost and labor content in terms of process mechanics and physics. The output of the designers' present analytical tools will be input for the designers' cost prediction model to provide the designer with a data base and deterministic cost methodology that allows one to trade and synthesize designs with both cost and weight as objective functions for optimization. The approach, goals, plans, and progress is presented for development of COSTADE (Cost Optimization Software for Transport Aircraft Design Evaluation).

Freeman, William T.↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-C-202-05: Pilot Study of Online Treatment Evaluation and Adaptive Re-Planning for Laryngeal SBRT

Purpose: We have instigated a phase I trial of 5-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for advanced-stage laryngeal cancer. We conducted this pilot dosimetric study to confirm the potential utility of online adaptive re-planning to preserve treatment quality. Methods: Ten cases of larynx cancer were evaluated. Baseline and daily SBRT treatment plans were generated per trial protocol. Daily volumetric images were acquired prior to every fraction of treatment. Reference simulation CT images were deformably registered to daily volumetric images using Eclipse. Planning contours were then deformably propagated to daily images. Reference SBRT plans were directly copied to calculate delivered dose distributions on deformed reference CT images. In-house software platform has been developed to calculate cumulative dose over a course of treatment in four steps: 1) deforming delivered dose grid to reference CT images using deformation information exported from Eclipse; 2) generating tetrahedrons using deformed dose grid as vertices; 3) resampling dose to a high resolution within every tetrahedron; 4) calculating dose-volume histograms. Our inhouse software was benchmarked with a commercial software, Mirada. Results: In all ten cases including 49 fractions of treatments, delivered daily doses were completely evaluated and treatment could be re-planned within 10 minutes. Prescription dose coverage of PTV was less than intended in 53% of fractions of treatment (mean: 94%, range: 84%–98%) while minimum coverage of CTV and GTV was 94% and 97%, respectively. Maximum bystander point dose limits to arytenoids, parotids, and spinal cord remained respected in all cases, although variances in carotid artery doses were observed in a minority of cases. Conclusion: Although GTV and CTV coverage is preserved by in-room 3D image guidance of larynx SBRT, PTV coverage can vary significantly from intended plans. Online adaptive treatment evaluation and re-planning is potentially necessary and our procedure is clinically applicable to fully preserve treatment quality. This project is supported by CPRIT Individual Investigator Research Award RP150386.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Crew Autonomy through Self-Scheduling: Scheduling Performance Pilot Study

Within the domain of human spaceflight, crew scheduling for International Space Station (ISS) remains a human-driven planning task. Large teams of flight controllers (called Ops Planners) spend weeks creating violation-free schedules for all crewmembers. As NASA considers long-duration exploration missions, the necessary shift of scheduling and planning management from Ops Planners to crew members requires significant research and investigation of crew performance to complete these scheduling tasks. This pilot study was conducted to evaluate non-expert human performance for the task of planning and scheduling, focusing on scheduling problems that increased in complexity based on the number of activities to be scheduled and the number of planning constraints. Nine non-expert planners were recruited to complete scheduling tasks using Playbook, a scheduling software. The results of this pilot study show that scheduling performance decreased as scheduling workload (i.e. number of activities and percent of activities with planning constraints) increased. This paper provides evidence towards developing a model for scheduling task difficulty and identifies potential implications for future automated aids for flight crew scheduling.

planning↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Crew Autonomy Through Self-Scheduling: Scheduling Performance Pilot Study

Within the domain of human spaceflight, crew scheduling for International Space Station (ISS) remains a human-driven planning task. Large teams of flight controllers (called Ops Planners) spend weeks creating violation-free schedules for all crewmembers. As NASA considers long-duration exploration missions, the necessary shift of scheduling and planning management from Ops Planners to crew members requires significant research and investigation of crew performance to complete these scheduling tasks. This pilot study was conducted to evaluate non-expert human performance for the task of planning and scheduling, focusing on scheduling problems that increased in complexity based on the number of activities to be scheduled and the number of planning constraints. Nine non-expert planners were recruited to complete scheduling tasks using Playbook, a scheduling software. The results of this pilot study show that scheduling performance decreased as scheduling workload (i.e. number of activities and percent of activities with planning constraints) increased. This paper provides evidence towards developing a model for scheduling task difficulty and identifies potential implications for future automated aids for flight crew scheduling.

planning↗
DOE OSTI2017

Method of predicting the mean lung dose based on a patient's anatomy and dose-volume histograms

The aim of this study was to propose a method to predict the minimum achievable mean lung dose (MLD) and corresponding dosimetric parameters for organs-at-risk (OAR) based on individual patient anatomy. For each patient, the dose for 36 equidistant individual multileaf collimator shaped fields in the treatment planning system (TPS) was calculated. Based on these dose matrices, the MLD for each patient was predicted by the homemade DosePredictor software in which the solution of linear equations was implemented. The software prediction results were validated based on 3D conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans previously prepared for 16 patients with stage III non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). For each patient, dosimetric parameters derived from plans and the results calculated by DosePredictor were compared. The MLD, the maximum dose to the spinal cord (D{sub max} {sub cord}) and the mean esophageal dose (MED) were analyzed. There was a strong correlation between the MLD calculated by the DosePredictor and those obtained in treatment plans regardless of the technique used. The correlation coefficient was 0.96 for both 3D-CRT and VMAT techniques. In a similar manner, MED correlations of 0.98 and 0.96 were obtained for 3D-CRT and VMAT plans, respectively. The maximum dose to the spinal cord was not predicted very well. The correlation coefficient was 0.30 and 0.61 for 3D-CRT and VMAT, respectively. The presented method allows us to predict the minimum MLD and corresponding dosimetric parameters to OARs without the necessity of plan preparation. The method can serve as a guide during the treatment planning process, for example, as initial constraints in VMAT optimization. It allows the probability of lung pneumonitis to be predicted.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
NASA NTRS1992

Designers' unified cost model

The Structures Technology Program Office (STPO) at NASA LaRC has initiated development of a conceptual and preliminary designers' cost prediction model. The model will provide a technically sound method for evaluating the relative cost of different composite structural designs, fabrication processes, and assembly methods that can be compared to equivalent metallic parts or assemblies. The feasibility of developing cost prediction software in a modular form for interfacing with state-of-the-art preliminary design tools and computer aided design programs is being evaluated. The goal of this task is to establish theoretical cost functions that relate geometric design features to summed material cost and labor content in terms of process mechanics and physics. The output of the designers' present analytical tools will be input for the designers' cost prediction model to provide the designer with a database and deterministic cost methodology that allows one to trade and synthesize designs with both cost and weight as objective functions for optimization. This paper presents the team members, approach, goals, plans, and progress to date for development of COSTADE (Cost Optimization Software for Transport Aircraft Design Evaluation).

Freeman, W.↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-D-BRD-07: Automatic Patient Data Audit and Plan Quality Check to Support ARIA and Eclipse

Purpose: To ensure patient safety and treatment quality in RT departments that use Varian ARIA and Eclipse, we developed a computer software system and interface functions that allow previously developed electron chart checking (EcCk) methodologies to support these Varian systems. Methods: ARIA and Eclipse store most patient information in its MSSQL database. We studied the contents in the hundreds database tables and identified the data elements used for patient treatment management and treatment planning. Interface functions were developed in both c-sharp and MATLAB to support data access from ARIA and Eclipse servers using SQL queries. These functions and additional data processing functions allowed the existing rules and logics from EcCk to support ARIA and Eclipse. Dose and structure information are important for plan quality check, however they are not stored in the MSSQL database but as files in Varian private formats, and cannot be processed by external programs. We have therefore implemented a service program, which uses the DB Daemon and File Daemon services on ARIA server to automatically and seamlessly retrieve dose and structure data as DICOM files. This service was designed to 1) consistently monitor the data access requests from EcCk programs, 2) translate the requests for ARIA daemon services to obtain dose and structure DICOM files, and 3) monitor the process and return the obtained DICOM files back to EcCk programs for plan quality check purposes. Results: EcCk, which was previously designed to only support MOSAIQ TMS and Pinnacle TPS, can now support Varian ARIA and Eclipse. The new EcCk software has been tested and worked well in physics new start plan check, IMRT plan integrity and plan quality checks. Conclusion: Methods and computer programs have been implemented to allow EcCk to support Varian ARIA and Eclipse systems. This project was supported by a research grant from Varian Medical System.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2018

Increasing Flight Software Reuse with OpenSatKit

In January 2015 the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) released the Core Flight System (cFS) as open source under the NASA Open Source Agreement (NOSA) license. The cFS is based on flight software (FSW) developed for 12 spacecraft spanning nearly two decades of effort and it can provide about a third of the FSW functionality for a low-earth orbiting scientific spacecraft. The cFS is a FSW framework that is portable, configurable, and extendable using a product line deployment model. However, the components are maintained separately so the user must configure, integrate, and deploy them as a cohesive functional system. This can be very challenging especially for organizations such as universities building cubesats that have minimal experience developing FSW. Supporting universities was one of the primary motivators for releasing the cFS under NOSA. This paper describes the OpenSatKit that was developed to address the cFS deployment challenges and to serve as a cFS training platform for new users. It provides a fully functional out-of-the box software system that includes NASA's cFS, Ball Aerospace's command and control system COSMOS, and a NASA dynamic simulator called 42. The kit is freely available since all of the components have been released as open source. The kit runs on a Linux platform, includes 8 cFS applications, several kit-specific applications, and built in demos illustrating how to use key application features. It also includes the software necessary to port the cFS to a Raspberry Pi and instructions for configuring COSMOS to communicate with the target. All of the demos and test scripts can be rerun unchanged with the cFS running on the Raspberry Pi. The cFS uses a 3-tiered layered architecture including a platform abstraction layer, a Core Flight Executive (cFE) middle layer, and an application layer. Similar to smart phones, the cFS application layer is the key architectural feature for users to extend the FSW functionality to meet their mission-specific requirements. The platform abstraction layer and the cFE layers go a step further than smart phones by providing a platform-agnostic Application Programmer Interface (API) that allows applications to run unchanged on different platforms. OpenSatKit can serve two significant architectural roles that will further help the adoption of the cFS and help create a community of users that can share assets. First, the kit is being enhanced to automate the integration of applications with the goal of creating a virtual cFS "App Store".. Second, a platform certification test suite can be developed that would allow users to verify the port of the cFS to a new platform. This paper will describe the current state of these efforts and future plans.

Computer Programming and Software↗