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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
NASA NTRS2005

Flight Hardware Fabricated for Combustion Science in Space

NASA Glenn Research Center s Telescience Support Center (TSC) allows researchers on Earth to operate experiments onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and the space shuttles. NASA s continuing investment in the required software, systems, and networks provides distributed ISS ground operations that enable payload developers and scientists to monitor and control their experiments from the Glenn TSC. The quality of scientific and engineering data is enhanced while the long-term operational costs of experiments are reduced because principal investigators and engineering teams can operate their payloads from their home institutions.

OMalley, Terence F.↗
DOE OSTI2018

So ware-Defined Network Solutions for Science Scenarios: Performance Testing Framework and Measurements

High-performance scientific work flows utilize supercomputers, scientific instruments, and large storage systems. Their executions require fast setup of a small number of dedicated network connections across the geographically distributed facility sites. We present Software-Defined Network (SDN) solutions consisting of site daemons that use dpctl, Floodlight, ONOS, or OpenDaylight controllers to set up these connections. The development of these SDN solutions could be quite disruptive to the infrastructure, while requiring a close coordination among multiple sites; in addition, the large number of possible controller and device combinations to investigate could make the infrastructure unavailable to regular users for extended periods of time. In response, we develop a Virtual Science Network Environment (VSNE) using virtual machines, Mininet, and custom scripts that support the development, testing, and evaluation of SDN solutions, without the constraints and expenses of multi-site physical infrastructures; furthermore, the chosen solutions can be directly transferred to production deployments. By complementing VSNE with a physical testbed, we conduct targeted performance tests of various SDN solutions to help choose the best candidates. In addition, we propose a switching response method to assess the setup times and throughput performances of different SDN solutions, and present experimental results that show their advantages and limitations.

Settlemyer, Bradley↗
NASA NTRS2019

Mapping the User Journey: Building a User Persona and Story Repository to Improve NASA EOSDIS Application Development

Understanding the needs of the end user is vital to producing quality, usable software that solves real problems. Additionally, making sure those needs are communicated to managers, engineers, and designers at the project level is vital. On complex projects, it's important to build out resources for your team that make it easy to put yourself in the shoes of the specific user you're building for. NASA's Earth Observing System is a collection of data, applications, and a diverse user and scientific community that's trying to answer tough questions about our planet and its climate. Over the last few years, we've spoken to hundreds of users, performed many user testing sessions, and built a collection of user personas, user stories, and design assets that help guide new software and feature development within NASA EOSDIS. We've also developed methods for synthesizing this information and making it actionable for teams, and worked to foster a design first approach on new projects always starting from a core user need and working backward from interface development to software engineering. This process has allowed us to design better, more usable software and features that directly meet the needs of our user community.

Siarto, Jeff↗
NASA NTRS2014

Evolution of the Scope and Capabilities of Uplink Support Software for Mars Surface Operations

In January of 2004 both of the Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft landed safely, initiating daily surface operations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for what was anticipated to be approximately three months of mobile exploration. The longevity of this mission, still ongoing after ten years, has provided not only a tremendous return of scientific data but also the opportunity to refine and improve the methodology by which robotic Mars surface missions are commanded. Since the landing of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft in August of 2012, this methodology has been successfully applied to operate a Martian rover which is both similar to, and quite different from, its predecessors. For MER and MSL, daily uplink operations can be most broadly viewed as converting the combined interests of both the science and engineering teams into a spacecraft-safe set of transmittable command files. In order to accomplish these ends a discrete set of mission-critical software tools were developed which not only allowed for conformation to established JPL standards and practices but also enabled innovative technologies specific to each mission. Although these primary programs provided the requisite capabilities for meeting the high-level goals of each distinct phase of the uplink process, there was little in the way of secondary software to support the smooth flow of data from one phase to the next. In order to address this shortcoming a suite of small software tools was developed to aid in phase transitions, as well as to automate some of the more laborious and error-prone aspects of uplink operations. This paper describes the evolution of this software suite, from its initial attempts to merely shorten the duration of the operator's shift, to its current role as an indispensable tool enforcing workflow of the uplink operations process and agilely responding to the new and unexpected challenges of missions which can, and have, lasted many years longer than originally anticipated.

CoUGAR↗
DOE OSTI2013

A Virtual Aluminum Reduction Cell

The most important component in the aluminum industry is the aluminum reduction cell; it has received considerable interests and resources to conduct research to improve its productivity and energy efficiency. Currently, we focus on the integration of numerical simulation data and virtual reality technology to create a scientifically and practically realistic virtual aluminum reduction cell by presenting complex cell structures and physical–chemical phenomena. The multiphysical field simulation models were first built and solved in ANSYS software (ANSYS Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA). Then, the methodology of combining the simulation results with virtual reality was introduced, and a virtual aluminum reduction cell was created. Our demonstration showed that a computer-based world could be created in which people who are not analysis experts can see the detailed cell structure in a context that they can understand easily. With the application of the virtual aluminum reduction cell, even people who are familiar with aluminum reduction cell operations can gain insights that make it possible to understand the root causes of observed problems and plan design changes in much less time.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cumulative Spatial Impact Layers: A Novel Multivariate Spatio-Temporal Analytical Summarization Tool

Scientific inquiry often requires analysis of multiple spatio-temporal datasets, ranging in type and size, using complex multi-step processes demanding an understanding of GIS theory and software. Cumulative Spatial Impact Layers (CSIL) is a GIS-based tool that summarizes spatio-temporal datasets based on overlapping features and attributes. Leveraging a recursive quadtree method, and applying multiple additive frameworks, the CSIL tool allows users to analyze raster and vector datasets by calculating data, record, or attribute density. Providing an efficient and robust method for summarizing disparate, multi-format, multi-source geospatial data, CSIL addresses the need for a new integration approach and resulting geospatial product. The built-in flexibility of the CSIL tool allows users to answer a range of spatially-driven questions. Example applications are provided in this paper to illustrate the versatility and variety of uses for this CSIL tool and method. Use cases include addressing regulatory decision-making needs, economic modeling, and resource management. Performance reviews for each use case are also presented, demonstrating how CSILs provides a more efficient and robust approach to assess a range of multivariate spatial data for a variety of uses.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Application Experiences on a GPU-Accelerated Arm-based HPC Testbed

This paper assesses and reports the experience of ten teams working to port, validate, and benchmark several High Performance Computing applications on a novel GPU-accelerated Arm testbed system. The testbed consists of eight NVIDIA Arm HPC Developer Kit systems, each one equipped with a server-class Arm CPU from Ampere Computing and two data center GPUs from NVIDIA Corp. The systems are connected together using InfiniBand interconnect. The selected applications and mini-apps are written using several programming languages and use multiple accelerator-based programming models for GPUs such as CUDA, OpenACC, and OpenMP offloading. Working on application porting requires a robust and easy-to-access programming environment, including a variety of compilers and optimized scientific libraries. The goal of this work is to evaluate platform readiness and assess the effort required from developers to deploy well-established scientific workloads on current and future generation Arm-based GPU-accelerated HPC systems. The reported case studies demonstrate that the current level of maturity and diversity of software and tools is already adequate for large-scale production deployments.

Elwasif, Wael↗
NASA NTRS1991

Magellan mission planning and orbital operations

The goal of NASA's Magellan mission is to understand the geological and geophysical processes that have shaped the planet Venus. Through synthetic aperture radar, radiometric, altimetric, and gravity measurements, the scientific community hopes to improve its knowledge of the planet's topography and internal mass distribution. This paper provides an overview of the Magellan mission; describes the spacecraft sequence software design, development, and test; addresses the nominal operational flow of stored sequence design and generation; briefly describes the ground processing of engineering telemetry and imaging data; and then summarizes the Magellan operational experience with non-routine behavior of the spacecraft during the cruise and mapping portions of the prime mission.

Venus↗
NASA NTRS1993

Design decisions from the history of the EUVE science payload

Some of the design issues that arose during the development of the EUVE science payload and solutions to the problems involved are examined. In particular, attention is given to the use of parallel and serial busses, the selection of the the ROM approach for software storage and execution, implementation of memory error detection and correction, and the selection of command structures. The early design decisions paid off in the timely delivery of the scientific payload and in the successful completion of the survey phase of the EUVE science mission.

Marchant, W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Review and analysis of dense linear system solver package for distributed memory machines

A dense linear system solver package recently developed at the University of Texas at Austin for distributed memory machine (e.g. Intel Paragon) has been reviewed and analyzed. The package contains about 45 software routines, some written in FORTRAN, and some in C-language, and forms the basis for parallel/distributed solutions of systems of linear equations encountered in many problems of scientific and engineering nature. The package, being studied by the Computer Applications Branch of the Analysis and Computation Division, may provide a significant computational resource for NASA scientists and engineers in parallel/distributed computing. Since the package is new and not well tested or documented, many of its underlying concepts and implementations were unclear; our task was to review, analyze, and critique the package as a step in the process that will enable scientists and engineers to apply it to the solution of their problems. All routines in the package were reviewed and analyzed. Underlying theory or concepts which exist in the form of published papers or technical reports, or memos, were either obtained from the author, or from the scientific literature; and general algorithms, explanations, examples, and critiques have been provided to explain the workings of these programs. Wherever the things were still unclear, communications were made with the developer (author), either by telephone or by electronic mail, to understand the workings of the routines. Whenever possible, tests were made to verify the concepts and logic employed in their implementations. A detailed report is being separately documented to explain the workings of these routines.

Narang, H. N.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A distributed analysis and visualization system for model and observational data

Software was developed with NASA support to aid in the analysis and display of the massive amounts of data generated from satellites, observational field programs, and from model simulations. This software was developed in the context of the PATHFINDER (Probing ATmospHeric Flows in an Interactive and Distributed EnviRonment) Project. The overall aim of this project is to create a flexible, modular, and distributed environment for data handling, modeling simulations, data analysis, and visualization of atmospheric and fluid flows. Software completed with NASA support includes GEMPAK analysis, data handling, and display modules for which collaborators at NASA had primary responsibility, and prototype software modules for three-dimensional interactive and distributed control and display as well as data handling, for which NSCA was responsible. Overall process control was handled through a scientific and visualization application builder from Silicon Graphics known as the Iris Explorer. In addition, the GEMPAK related work (GEMVIS) was also ported to the Advanced Visualization System (AVS) application builder. Many modules were developed to enhance those already available in Iris Explorer including HDF file support, improved visualization and display, simple lattice math, and the handling of metadata through development of a new grid datatype. Complete source and runtime binaries along with on-line documentation is available via the World Wide Web at: http://redrock.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ PATHFINDER/pathre12/top/top.html.

Wilhelmson, Robert B.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Navigating the Airways

Through a licensing agreement with JPL, Hughes Aircraft Company is using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) software GIPSY-OASIS for implementation of the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). WAAS will provide precision navigation for commercial airliners in U.S. airspace. JPL's GIPSY-OASIS (GIPSY - GPS-Inferred Positioning System; OASIS - Orbit Analysis and Simulation Software) has been used world-wide to produce the most accurate Global Positioning System (GPS) ephemeredes (satellite position) solutions ever achieved for ground and space users, both in scientific and commercial applications.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1990

Space Station Freedom Central Thermal Control System Evolution

The objective of the evolution study is to review the proposed growth scenarios for Space Station Freedom and identify the major CTCS hardware scars and software hooks required to facilitate planned growth and technology obsolescence. The Station's two leading evolutionary configurations are: (1) the Research and Development node, where the fundamental mission is scientific research and commercial endeavors, and (2) the Transportation node, where the emphasis is on supporting Lunar and Mars human exploration. These two nodes evolve from the from the assembly complete configuration by the addition of manned modules, pocket labs, resource nodes, attached payloads, customer servicing facility, and an upper and lower keel and boom truss structure. In the case of the R & D node, the role of the dual keel will be to support external payloads for scientific research. In the case of the Transportation node, the keel will support the Lunar (LTV) and Mars (MTV) transportation vehicle service facilities In addition to external payloads. The transverse boom is extended outboard of the alpha gimbal to accommodate the new solar dynamic arrays for power generation, which will supplement the photovoltaic system. The design, development, deployment, and operation of SSF will take place over a 30 year time period and new Innovations and maturation in technologies can be expected. Evolutionary planning must include the obsolescence and insertion of the new technologies over the life of the program, and the technology growth issues must be addressed in parallel with the development of the baseline thermal control system. Technologies that mature and are available within the next 10 years are best suited for evolutionary consideration as the growth phase begins in the year 2000. To increase TCS capability to accommodate growth using baseline technology would require some penalty in mass, volume, EVA time, manifesting, and operational support. To be cost effective the capabilities of the heat acquisition, transport, and rejection subsystems must be increased.

Bullock, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2004

Mars Exploration Rover - a new standard for interplanetary navigation

The twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, arrived at Mars for landings respectively at Gusev Crater (on January 4, 2004) and Meridiani Planum (on January 25, 2004). During the development of the mission, the capability of the navigation system to deliver the landers within a particular accuracy played a major role in landing site selection. This process ultimately resulted in commitments to deliver each lander within a specified landing ellipse (about 70 km x 5 km) determined to be safe for landing and also judged to be scientifically interesting. Achieving atmospheric entry delivery accuracies consistent with this landing requirement necessitated significant improvements to the interplanetary navigation system used for MER. These improvements included new processes and software for orbit determination, aggressive, mission-critical use of interferometric ADOR tracking data, propulsive maneuver design, and entry, descent, and landing (EDL) trajectory simulation. Because these advances pressed the state -of -the art, innovative methods to verify the assumptions in the pre-launch covariance analyses were also developed. The actual achieved atmospheric entry accuracies for Spirit and Opportunity significantly bettered the requirements.

navigation↗
NASA NTRS2007

A Comprehensive Plan for the Long-Term Calibration and Validation of Oceanic Biogeochemical Satellite Data

The primary objective of this planning document is to establish a long-term capability and validating oceanic biogeochemical satellite data. It is a pragmatic solution to a practical problem based primarily o the lessons learned from prior satellite missions. All of the plan's elements are seen to be interdependent, so a horizontal organizational scheme is anticipated wherein the overall leadership comes from the NASA Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry (OBB) Program Manager and the entire enterprise is split into two components of equal sature: calibration and validation plus satellite data processing. The detailed elements of the activity are based on the basic tasks of the two main components plus the current objectives of the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Roadmap. The former is distinguished by an internal core set of responsibilities and the latter is facilitated through an external connecting-core ring of competed or contracted activities. The core elements for the calibration and validation component include a) publish protocols and performance metrics; b) verify uncertainty budgets; c) manage the development and evaluation of instrumentation; and d) coordinate international partnerships. The core elements for the satellite data processing component are e) process and reprocess multisensor data; f) acquire, distribute, and archive data products; and g) implement new data products. Both components have shared responsibilities for initializing and temporally monitoring satellite calibration. Connecting-core elements include (but are not restricted to) atmospheric correction and characterization, standards and traceability, instrument and analysis round robins, field campaigns and vicarious calibration sites, in situ database, bio-optical algorithm (and product) validation, satellite characterization and vicarious calibration, and image processing software. The plan also includes an accountability process, creating a Calibration and Validation Team (to help manage the activity), and a discussion of issues associated with the plan's scientific focus.

Hooker, Stanford B.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The NASA/AFRL Meter Class Autonomous Telescope

For the past decade, the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) has relied on using various ground-based telescopes in Chile to acquire statistical survey data as well as photometric and spectroscopic data of orbital debris in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). The statistical survey data have been used to supply the Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) v.3.0 with debris detections in GEO to better model the environment at altitudes where radar detections are limited. The data produced for the statistical survey ranged from 30 to 40 nights per year, which only accounted for ~10% of the possible observing time. Data collection was restricted by ODPO resources and weather conditions. In order to improve the statistical sampling in GEO, as well as observe and sample other orbits, NASA's ODPO with support from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), has constructed a new observatory dedicated to orbital debris - the Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension Island. This location provides MCAT with the unique ability to access targets orbiting at an altitude of less than 1,000 km and low inclinations (< 20 deg). This orbital regime currently has little to no coverage by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network. Unlike previous ODPO optical assets, the ability to operate autonomously will allow rapid response observations of break-up events, an observing mode that was only available via radar tasking prior to MCAT's deployment. The primary goal of MCAT is to statistically characterize GEO via daily tasking files uploaded from ODPO. These tasking files define which operating mode to follow, providing the field center, rates, and/or targets to observe over the entire observing period. The system is also capable of tracking fast-moving targets in low Earth orbit (LEO), middle Earth orbit (MEO), as well as highly eccentric orbits like geostationary transfer orbits. On 25 August 2015, MCAT successfully acquired scientific first light, imaging the Bug Nebula and tracked objects in LEO, MEO, and GEO. NASA is working towards characterizing the system and thoroughly testing the integrated hardware and software control to achieve fully autonomous operations by late 2016. This paper will review the history and current status of the MCAT project, the details of the telescope system, and its five currently manifested operating modes.

Cowardin, H.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Web-Based Geographic Information System Tool for Accessing Hanford Site Environmental Data

Data volume, complexity, and access issues pose severe challenges for analysts, regulators and stakeholders attempting to efficiently use legacy data to support decision making at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford Site. DOE has partnered with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on the PHOENIX (PNNL-Hanford Online Environmental Information System) project, which seeks to address data access, transparency, and integration challenges at Hanford to provide effective decision support. PHOENIX is a family of spatially-enabled web applications providing quick access to decades of valuable scientific data and insight through intuitive query, visualization, and analysis tools. PHOENIX realizes broad, public accessibility by relying only on ubiquitous web-browsers, eliminating the need for specialized software. It accommodates a wide range of users with intuitive user interfaces that require little or no training to quickly obtain and visualize data. Currently, PHOENIX is actively hosting three applications focused on groundwater monitoring, groundwater clean-up performance reporting, and in-tank monitoring. PHOENIX-based applications are being used to streamline investigative and analytical processes at Hanford, saving time and money. But more importantly, by integrating previously isolated datasets and developing relevant visualization and analysis tools, PHOENIX applications are enabling DOE to discover new correlations hidden in legacy data, allowing them to more effectively address complex issues at Hanford.

decision support↗
DOE OSTI2017

Scalable Data Management, Analysis, and Visualization

This report is the entire final report for the SciDAC project authored by the whole team. OSU is part of the contributors to the report. This report is organized into sections and subsections, each covering an area of development and deployment of technologies applied to scientific applications of interest to the Department of Energy. Each sub-section includes: 1) a summary description of the research, development, and deployment carried out, the results and the extent to which the stated project objectives were met; 2) significant results, including major findings, developments, or conclusions; 3) products, such as publications and presentations, software developed, project website(s), technologies or techniques, inventions, awards, etc., and 4) conclusions of the projects and future directions for research, development, and deployment in this technology area.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗