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At least 1,117 records · Page 62
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Integrated Logistics Support Analysis of the International Space Station Alpha, Background and Summary of Mathematical Modeling and Failure Density Distributions Pertaining to Maintenance Time Dependent Parameters

The process of predicting the values of maintenance time dependent variable parameters such as mean time between failures (MTBF) over time must be one that will not in turn introduce uncontrolled deviation in the results of the ILS analysis such as life cycle costs, spares calculation, etc. A minor deviation in the values of the maintenance time dependent variable parameters such as MTBF over time will have a significant impact on the logistics resources demands, International Space Station availability and maintenance support costs. There are two types of parameters in the logistics and maintenance world: a. Fixed; b. Variable Fixed parameters, such as cost per man hour, are relatively easy to predict and forecast. These parameters normally follow a linear path and they do not change randomly. However, the variable parameters subject to the study in this report such as MTBF do not follow a linear path and they normally fall within the distribution curves which are discussed in this publication. The very challenging task then becomes the utilization of statistical techniques to accurately forecast the future non-linear time dependent variable arisings and events with a high confidence level. This, in turn, shall translate in tremendous cost savings and improved availability all around.

Sepehry-Fard, F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Computational methods for the control of distributed parameter systems

Finite dimensional approximation schemes that work well for distributed parameter systems are often not suitable for the analysis and implementation of feedback control systems. The relationship between approximation schemes for distributed parameter systems and their application to optimal control problems is discussed. A numerical example is given.

Burns, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Investigation of photoelectron spectroscopy

The problem of obtaining true and meaningful branching ratios from the photoelectron spectra is investigated. The problem consists of understanding the transmission of an electron energy analyzer for electrons with different energies, understanding the effects of using partially polarized radiation from different vacuum monochromators, and in understanding the effects of the angular distribution of photoelectrons ejected from different orbitals. An analysis of the degree of polarization of monochromatic radiation and of the problem of varying angular distributions led to the construction of a cylindrical mirror electron energy analyzer set at the special angle of 54 deg 44 min so that no discrimination would occur for electrons of different angular distributions. With the analyzer properly calibrated for transmission of electrons of different energies, data were taken at several wavelengths and for several atmospheric gases.

Samson, J. A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Lumped-Parameter Representation of Wind Tunnel

Mathematical model of proposed wind-tunnel facility represents wind-tunnel circuit and associated equipment in terms of lumped-parameter components. Requires less computational effort and computing time than full three-dimensional aerodynamic computer analysis of system with many volume elements. Approximates distributed nature of wind tunnel well enough to simulate steady-state and transient behavior for analysis of proposed control subsystems and for training of operators. Lumped-parameter circuit model represents wind tunnel and associated equipment. Implemented on analog or digital computers to simulate wind-tunnel performance without risk to operators or equipment.

Krosel, Susan M.↗
NASA NTRS2015

The Compositional Evolution of C/2012 S1 (ISON) from Ground-Based High-Resolution Infrared Spectroscopy as Part of a Worldwide Observing Campaign

Volatile production rates, relative abundances, rotational temperatures, and spatial distributions in the coma were measured in C/2012 S1 (ISON) using long-slit high-dispersion (lambda/delta lambda approximately 2.5 times 10 (sup 4)) infrared spectroscopy as part of a worldwide observing campaign. Spectra were obtained on Universal Time 2013 October 26 and 28 with NIRSPEC (Near Infrared Spectrometer) at the W.M. Keck Observatory, and Universal Time 2013 November 19 and 20 with CSHELL (Cryogenic Echelle Spectrograph) at the NASA IRTF (Infrared Telescope Facility). H2O was detected on all dates, with production rates increasing markedly from (8.7 plus or minus 1.5) times 10 (sup 27) molecules per second on October 26 (Heliocentric Distance = 1.12 Astronomical Units) to (3.7 plus or minus 0.4) times 10 (sup 29) molecules per second on November 20 (Heliocentric Distance = 0.43 Astronomical Units). Short-term variability of H2O production is also seen as observations on November 19 show an increase in H2O production rate of nearly a factor of two over a period of about 6 hours. C2H6, CH3OH and CH4 abundances in ISON (International Scientific Optical Network) are slightly depleted relative to H2O when compared to mean values for comets measured at infrared wavelengths. On the November dates, C2H2, HCN and OCS abundances relative to H2O appear to be within the range of mean values, whereas H2CO and NH3 were significantly enhanced. There is evidence that the abundances with respect to H2O increased for some species but not others between October 28 (Heliocentric Distance = 1.07 Astronomical Units) and November 19 (Heliocentric Distance = 0.46 Astronomical Units). The high mixing ratios of H2CO to CH3OH and C2H2 to C2H6 on November 19, and changes in the mixing ratios of some species with respect to H2O between October 28 to November 19, indicates compositional changes that may be the result of a transition from sampling radiation-processed outer layers in this dynamically new comet to sampling more pristine natal material as the outer processed layer was increasingly eroded and the thermal wave propagated into the nucleus as the comet approached perihelion for the first time. On November 19 and 20, the spatial distribution for dust appears asymmetric and enhanced in the antisolar direction, whereas spatial distributions for volatiles (excepting CN) appear symmetric with their peaks slightly offset in the sunward direction compared to the dust. Spatial distributions for H2O, HCN, C2H6, C2H2, and H2CO on November 19 show no definitive evidence for significant contributions from extended sources; however, broader spatial distributions for NH3 and OCS may be consistent with extended sources for these species. Abundances of HCN and C2H2 on November 19 and 20 are insufficient to account for reported abundances of CN and C2 in ISON near this time. Differences in HCN and CN spatial distributions are also consistent with HCN as only a minor source of CN in ISON on November 19 as the spatial distribution of CN in the coma suggests a dominant distributed source that is correlated with dust and not volatile release. The spatial distributions for NH3 and NH2 are similar, suggesting that NH3 is the primary source of NH2 with no evidence of a significant dust source of NH2; however, the higher production rates derived for NH3 compared to NH2 on November 19 and 20 remain unexplained. This suggests a more complete analysis that treats NH2 as a distributed source and accounts for its emission mechanism is needed for future work.

Russo, N. Dello↗
NASA NTRS2011

Inverse Design of Low-Boom Supersonic Concepts Using Reversed Equivalent-Area Targets

A promising path for developing a low-boom configuration is a multifidelity approach that (1) starts from a low-fidelity low-boom design, (2) refines the low-fidelity design with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) equivalent-area (Ae) analysis, and (3) improves the design with sonic-boom analysis by using CFD off-body pressure distributions. The focus of this paper is on the third step of this approach, in which the design is improved with sonic-boom analysis through the use of CFD calculations. A new inverse design process for off-body pressure tailoring is formulated and demonstrated with a low-boom supersonic configuration that was developed by using the mixed-fidelity design method with CFD Ae analysis. The new inverse design process uses the reverse propagation of the pressure distribution (dp/p) from a mid-field location to a near-field location, converts the near-field dp/p into an equivalent-area distribution, generates a low-boom target for the reversed equivalent area (Ae,r) of the configuration, and modifies the configuration to minimize the differences between the configuration s Ae,r and the low-boom target. The new inverse design process is used to modify a supersonic demonstrator concept for a cruise Mach number of 1.6 and a cruise weight of 30,000 lb. The modified configuration has a fully shaped ground signature that has a perceived loudness (PLdB) value of 78.5, while the original configuration has a partially shaped aft signature with a PLdB of 82.3.

Li, Wu↗
NASA NTRS2019

Developing an Aircraft-Based Angular Distribution Model of Solar Reflection from Wildfire Smoke to Aid Satellite-Based Radiative Flux Estimation

This study examines the angular distribution of scattered solar radiation associated with wildfire smoke aerosols observed over boreal forests in Canada during the ARCTAS (Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites) campaign. First, it estimates smoke radiative parameters (550 nm optical depth of 3.9 and single scattering albedo of 0.90) using quasi-simultaneous multiangular and multispectral airborne measurements by the Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR). Next, the paper estimates the broadband top-of-atmosphere radiances that a satellite instrument such as the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) could have observed, given the narrowband CAR measurements made from an aircraft circling about a kilometer above the smoke layer. This estimation includes both an atmospheric correction that accounts for the atmosphere above the aircraft and a narrowband-to-broadband conversion. The angular distribution of estimated radiances is found to be substantially different than the angular model used in the operational data processing of CERES observations over the same area. This is because the CERES model is a monthly average model that was constructed using observations taken under smoke-free conditions. Finally, a sensitivity analysis shows that the estimated angular distribution remains accurate for a fairly wide range of smoke and underlying surface parameters. Overall, results from this work suggest that airborne CAR measurements can bring some substantial improvements in the accuracy of satellite-based radiative flux estimates.

Varnai, Tamas↗
NASA NTRS1982

Can crop types be resolved using mixture distribution components - Some initial results and implications

For the analysis of remotely sensed data, it is frequently necessary to design a classifier in order to locate a ground cover class of interest or to estimate the proportion of this ground cover class. Advantages of a mixture distribution formulation are discussed, and a description is presented of the results of estimating the proportion of small grains in ten Landsat data segments using the mixture model. It is found that the mixture model proportion estimates have a very low variance and coefficient of variation. The discussed investigation implies that the mixtures model is a viable method for determining the distributions of classes of interest in remote sensing problems and in estimating the proportions of these classes directly.

Lennington, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS2023

Distributed Spacecraft Mission (DSM) Plume Design Reference Mission (DRM) Inter-Satellite Link Modeling, Analysis and Simulation

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Radical Innovation Initiative (RI2) plans to focus intently on DSM capability advancements in FY22-24. A DSM mission involves multiple spacecraft, arranged in a constellation, to achieve one or more common goals via the use of inter-satellite links (ISL) between the satellites. Recently, the GSFC Internal Research & Development (IRAD) program established Enceladus as a design reference mission (DRM) for the current DSM effort to foster the conceptual development of communication architecture, requirements, and solutions for future DSM ISL, as well as being able to push other research areas of interest. Enceladus is an icy moon of the planet Saturn. The DRM Enceladus mission concept involves a constellation of 24 small satellites, orbiting Enceladus around 100 km altitude in 3 planes, as observing nodes for science measurement. The mission science data will be sent back to Earth through a relay orbiting Saturn, using the constellation’s inter-satellite links. A QualNet/STK simulation model of the Relay and constellation ISL optical and RF links is developed for the design and optimization of the link and orbital parameters, as well as the inter-networking protocols. Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) is utilized in the application layer modeling. This paper describes the plume DRM mission concept of an Enceladus constellation to relay science data to Earth and includes the proposed communication architecture and operation concepts. We present details of the QualNet/STK engineering model for this communication scenario to simulate the end-to-end data traffic through multiple layers (physical, data link, networking, transport and application). A link analysis for the constellation’s ISL, constellation to Relay and Direct to Earth (DTE) optical link is provided and discussed. The results of end-to-end traffic simulation for the data throughout/latency evaluation and assessment of the communication architecture are presented. The investigation of the concept of optical multiple access (OMA) for the Plume DRM is discussed. The modeling and simulation methodology developed in this paper is applicable to other DSMs in near Earth and deep space such as Earth-Moon L1/L2 and Lunar regions.

Distributed Spacecraft Mission (DSM) Inter-satelli↗
NASA NTRS1982

Analytical modeling of operating characteristics of premixing-prevaporizing fuel-air mixing passages. Volume 1: Analysis and results

A model for predicting the distribution of liquid fuel droplets and fuel vapor in premixing-prevaporizing fuel-air mixing passages of the direct injection type is reported. This model consists of three computer programs; a calculation of the two dimensional or axisymmetric air flow field neglecting the effects of fuel; a calculation of the three dimensional fuel droplet trajectories and evaporation rates in a known, moving air flow; a calculation of fuel vapor diffusing into a moving three dimensional air flow with source terms dependent on the droplet evaporation rates. The fuel droplets are treated as individual particle classes each satisfying Newton's law, a heat transfer, and a mass transfer equation. This fuel droplet model treats multicomponent fuels and incorporates the physics required for the treatment of elastic droplet collisions, droplet shattering, droplet coalescence and droplet wall interactions. The vapor diffusion calculation treats three dimensional, gas phase, turbulent diffusion processes. The analysis includes a model for the autoignition of the fuel air mixture based upon the rate of formation of an important intermediate chemical species during the preignition period.

Anderson, O. L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Analysis of acoustic radiation in a jet flow environment

The analysis of sound fields from arbitrary source distributions in terms of Legendre and spherical Hankel functions is well known. The purpose of this paper is to extend this classical method of analysis to environments such as jet flows where flow and flow gradients are inherently present. The wave-equation governing the radiation of sound in such an environment is derived. The steady state flow and flow gradients in the axial and transverse directions appear as coefficients in the terms of the wave-equation. A semi-numerical method is used to solve the wave-equation in terms of modified spherical harmonics yielding the phase velocities and the directivities of an infinite set of modes. The directivity of each mode is obtained in terms of modified Legendre functions by numerical integration. Some results of these directivity and phase-velocity calculations are presented for a limited number of frequency and flow parameters. Both convective and shear refraction are shown to be important.

Mungur, P.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Polarbrdf: A General Purpose Python Package for Visualization Quantitative Analysis of Multi-Angular Remote Sensing Measurements

The Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) is a fundamental concept for characterizing the reflectance property of a surface, and helps in the analysis of remote sensing data from satellite, airborne and surface platforms. Multi-angular remote sensing measurements are required for the development and evaluation of BRDF models for improved characterization of surface properties. However, multi-angular data and the associated BRDF models are typically multidimensional involving multi-angular and multi-wavelength information. Effective visualization of such complex multidimensional measurements for different wavelength combinations is presently somewhat lacking in the literature, and could serve as a potentially useful research and teaching tool in aiding both interpretation and analysis of BRDF measurements. This article describes a newly developed software package in Python (PolarBRDF) to help visualize and analyze multi-angular data in polar and False Color Composite (FCC) forms. PolarBRDF also includes functionalities for computing important multi-angular reflectance/albedo parameters including spectral albedo, principal plane reflectance and spectral reflectance slope. Application of PolarBRDF is demonstrated using various case studies obtained from airborne multi-angular remote sensing measurements using NASA's Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR). Our visualization program also provides functionalities for untangling complex surface/atmosphere features embedded in pixel-based remote sensing measurements, such as the FCC imagery generation of BRDF measurements of grasslands in the presence of wild fire smoke and clouds. Furthermore, PolarBRDF also provides quantitative information of the angular distribution of scattered surface/atmosphere radiation, in the form of relevant BRDF variables such as sunglint, hotspot and scattering statistics.

CAR↗
NASA NTRS1983

An improvement in SAR image interpretability provided by post-correlation signal processing

A presentation on the basis of subjective analysis of computer-generated SAR imagery depicts the improvement in interpretability obtained by post-correlation signal processing. A parametric study was conducted to determine the improvement in interpretability obtained by the application of signal weighting functions on the post-processed returns. The results suggest that a marked improvement in interpretability results from symmetrizing the exponential distribution of the fading signal. Preliminary analysis indicates that signal weighting improves the contrast ratio between the mean value of adjacent homogeneous regions in a SAR scene.

Matthews, N. D.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Development of an Emulation-simulation Thermal Control Model for Space Station Application

Analysis techniques to evaluate the effects of changing thermal loads and the methods utilized to control temperature distributions in the orbital space station are essential. Analysis techniques including a user-friendly computer program, were developed which should prove useful in thermal design and system analysis of the the space station. The program uses a data base and user input to compute costs, sizes, and power requirements for individual components and complete systems. User input consists of selecting mission parameters, selecting thermal acquisition configurations, transport systems and distances, and thermal rejection configurations.

Colwell, G. T.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Wavelength Control in Buried Heterostructure and Ridge Waveguide Lasers

High density wavelength division multiplexed (HD-WDM) systems place stringent requirements on the absolute wavelength and wavelength spacing of the elements in Distributed Feedback (DFB) laser arrays. An analysis of the fabrication tolerances for ridge waveguide and buried heterostructure DFB lasers is performed, showing the fabrication-induced wavelength variations present in these types of devices.

HD-WDM DFB distributed feedback laser arrays optic↗
NASA NTRS2013

U.S. Naval Observatory VLBI Analysis Center

This report summarizes the activities of the VLBI Analysis Center at the United States Naval Observatory for the 2012 calendar year. Over the course of the year, Analysis Center personnel continued analysis and timely submission of IVS-R4 databases for distribution to the IVS. During the 2012 calendar year, the USNO VLBI Analysis Center produced two VLBI global solutions designated as usn2012a and usn2012b. Earth orientation parameters (EOP) based on this solution and updated by the latest diurnal (IVS-R1 and IVS-R4) experiments were routinely submitted to the IVS. Sinex files based upon the bi-weekly 24-hour experiments were also submitted to the IVS. During the 2012 calendar year, Analysis Center personnel continued a program to use the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) operated by the NRAO for the purpose of measuring UT1-UTC. Routine daily 1-hour duration Intensive observations were initiated using the VLBA antennas at Pie Town, NM and Mauna Kea, HI. High-speed network connections to these two antennas are now routinely used for electronic transfer of VLBI data over the Internet to a USNO point of presence. A total of 270 VLBA Intensive experiments were observed and electronically transferred to and processed at USNO in 2012.

Boboltz, David A.↗
NASA NTRS1972

A fracture mechanics analysis of adhesive failure in a single lap shear joint.

Discussion of adhesive fracture of single lap shear joints in terms of a maximum stress criterion and an energy balance. The Goland and Reissner (1944) analysis is used to determine the stress distribution in the adhesive assembly, and the results obtained are introduced into an energy balance to determine the initiation of adhesive fracture. In the stress analysis the loads at the edges of the joint are first determined. This is a problem in which the deformation of the joint sheets must be taken into account and is solved by using the finite-deflection theory of cylindrically bent plates. Then the stress in the joint due to applied loads is determined. This problem is formulated as one in plane strain consisting of two rectangular sheets of equal thickness and unit width. With the aid of this stress analysis and the stresses obtained from the conditions of equilibrium the contributions to the energy change with crack length are calculated. The analysis performed is then compared with a maximum stress criterion for a lap joint.

Devries, K. L.↗