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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 1,135 records · Page 63
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Interoperable Map Services with Performance Tuning for Earth Science Data through API-Tiles and Dynamic API-Styles

NASA’s Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) provides access to a wide range of global climate data from various satellite missions and models. However, the visualization and analysis of these data can be challenging due to their large volume, complex structure, and diverse formats. This study presents the implementation of interoperable map services (API-Maps) with performance tuning using API-Tiles and dynamic API-Styles. API-Maps is a standard for defining and exposing map services through RESTful (representational state transfer) APIs (application programming interfaces). API-Tiles is a technique for generating and delivering map tiles on demand from any data source. API-Styles is a method for dynamically applying styles to map tiles based on user preferences or data attributes. The use of API-Tiles and dynamic API-Styles enhances the performance and scalability of the map services, allowing for smooth and interactive visualization of large datasets. Two types of Earth Science data sources from the NASA GES DISC are used in the experiment: regularly gridded data, such as Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) precipitation data, and low processing level data, such as low-level data of atmospheric composite measurements from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) mission. Re-gridding of swath data (low level data - e.g. Level 2) of atmospheric composites (e.g. TROPOMI products, such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone and aerosol optical depth) is applied to enable the Web-based, interoperable, tiled, and styled mapping (rendering) services of such data. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in providing fast and efficient access to Earth science data through interoperable map services.

Geographic Information System↗
NASA NTRS1988

NASA telerobot testbed development and core technology demonstration

In 1985, NASA initiated a major program of technology development and demonstration for robotics applications to space servicing, assembly, repair, and remote exploration. A ground-based telerobot testbed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been the focal point within this program. Designed to prove technology concepts for supervised automation of increasingly unstructured and complex tasks, the testbed has reached an initial stage of integration. Several significant testbed experiments have been performed, including visual tracking and grapple of a satellite, dual-arm spatial coordination and manipulator control, force-reflecting teleoperations, and simulated task planning for a satellite servicing scenario. The current NASA plans for continuing testbed development and demonstration are also described.

Schenker, Paul S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Workshop proceedings: Information Systems for Space Astrophysics in the 21st Century, volume 1

The Astrophysical Information Systems Workshop was one of the three Integrated Technology Planning workshops. Its objectives were to develop an understanding of future mission requirements for information systems, the potential role of technology in meeting these requirements, and the areas in which NASA investment might have the greatest impact. Workshop participants were briefed on the astrophysical mission set with an emphasis on those missions that drive information systems technology, the existing NASA space-science operations infrastructure, and the ongoing and planned NASA information systems technology programs. Program plans and recommendations were prepared in five technical areas: Mission Planning and Operations; Space-Borne Data Processing; Space-to-Earth Communications; Science Data Systems; and Data Analysis, Integration, and Visualization.

Cutts, James↗
NASA NTRS1983

Nuclear Plant Inspection

Engineers from the Power Authority of the State of New York use a Crack Growth Analysis Program supplied by COSMIC (Computer Software Management and Information Center) in one stage of nuclear plant inspection. Welds of the nuclear steam supply system are checked for cracks; radiographs, dye penetration and visual inspections are performed to locate cracks in the metal structure and welds. The software package includes three separate crack growth analysis models and enables necessary repairs to be planned before serious problems develop.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2002

Classification image analysis: estimation and statistical inference for two-alternative forced-choice experiments

We consider estimation and statistical hypothesis testing on classification images obtained from the two-alternative forced-choice experimental paradigm. We begin with a probabilistic model of task performance for simple forced-choice detection and discrimination tasks. Particular attention is paid to general linear filter models because these models lead to a direct interpretation of the classification image as an estimate of the filter weights. We then describe an estimation procedure for obtaining classification images from observer data. A number of statistical tests are presented for testing various hypotheses from classification images based on some more compact set of features derived from them. As an example of how the methods we describe can be used, we present a case study investigating detection of a Gaussian bump profile.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2001

An integrated software suite for surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex

The authors describe and illustrate an integrated trio of software programs for carrying out surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex. The first component of this trio, SureFit (Surface Reconstruction by Filtering and Intensity Transformations), is used primarily for cortical segmentation, volume visualization, surface generation, and the mapping of functional neuroimaging data onto surfaces. The second component, Caret (Computerized Anatomical Reconstruction and Editing Tool Kit), provides a wide range of surface visualization and analysis options as well as capabilities for surface flattening, surface-based deformation, and other surface manipulations. The third component, SuMS (Surface Management System), is a database and associated user interface for surface-related data. It provides for efficient insertion, searching, and extraction of surface and volume data from the database.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
NASA NTRS2009

CATIA V5 Virtual Environment Support for Constellation Ground Operations

This summer internship primarily involved using CATIA V5 modeling software to design and model parts to support ground operations for the Constellation program. I learned several new CATIA features, including the Imagine and Shape workbench and the Tubing Design workbench, and presented brief workbench lessons to my co-workers. Most modeling tasks involved visualizing design options for Launch Pad 39B operations, including Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP) access and internal access to the Ares I rocket. Other ground support equipment, including a hydrazine servicing cart, a mobile fuel vapor scrubber, a hypergolic propellant tank cart, and a SCAPE (Self Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble) suit, was created to aid in the visualization of pad operations.

Kelley, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS2014

Visual Advantage of Enhanced Flight Vision System During NextGen Flight Test Evaluation

Synthetic Vision Systems and Enhanced Flight Vision System (SVS/EFVS) technologies have the potential to provide additional margins of safety for aircrew performance and enable operational improvements for low visibility operations in the terminal area environment. Simulation and flight tests were jointly sponsored by NASA's Aviation Safety Program, Vehicle Systems Safety Technology project and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to evaluate potential safety and operational benefits of SVS/EFVS technologies in low visibility Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) operations. The flight tests were conducted by a team of Honeywell, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation and NASA personnel with the goal of obtaining pilot-in-the-loop test data for flight validation, verification, and demonstration of selected SVS/EFVS operational and system-level performance capabilities. Nine test flights were flown in Gulfstream's G450 flight test aircraft outfitted with the SVS/EFVS technologies under low visibility instrument meteorological conditions. Evaluation pilots flew 108 approaches in low visibility weather conditions (600 feet to 3600 feet reported visibility) under different obscurants (mist, fog, drizzle fog, frozen fog) and sky cover (broken, overcast). Flight test videos were evaluated at three different altitudes (decision altitude, 100 feet radar altitude, and touchdown) to determine the visual advantage afforded to the pilot using the EFVS/Forward-Looking InfraRed (FLIR) imagery compared to natural vision. Results indicate the EFVS provided a visual advantage of two to three times over that of the out-the-window (OTW) view. The EFVS allowed pilots to view the runway environment, specifically runway lights, before they would be able to OTW with natural vision.

Kramer, Lynda J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Investigations of flowfields found in typical combustor geometries

Measurements and computations are being applied to an axisymmetric swirling flow, emerging from swirl vanes at angle phi, entering a large chamber test section via a sudden expansion of various side-wall angles alpha. New features are: the turbulence measurements are being performed on swirling as well as nonswirling flow; and all measurements and computations are also being performed on a confined jet flowfield with realistic downstream blockage. Recent activity falls into three categories: (1) Time-mean flowfield characterization by five-hole pitot probe measurements and by flow visualization; (2) Turbulence measurements by a variety of single- and multi-wire hot-wire probe techniques; and (3) Flowfield computations using the computer code developed during the previous year's research program.

Lilley, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Flight service evaluation of advanced composite ailerons on the L-1011 transport aircraft

This report covers flight service evaluation of composite inboard ailerons on the L-1011 under contract NAS1-15069 for a period of five years. This is the fifth and final annual report of the maintenance evaluation program, and covers the period from July 1986 when the fourth yearly inspections were completed, through May 1987. Four shipsets of graphite/epoxy composite inboard ailerons were installed on L-1011 aircraft for this maintenance evaluation program. These include two Delta and two TWA aircraft. A fifth shipset of composite ailerons was installed in 1980 on Lockheed's flight test L-1011. The previous four annual inspections had been visual exterior inspections only. For this final inspection, the lower covers were removed for access and both interior and exterior surfaces, spars and ribs, and fastener holes were inspected. No damage or defects were observed on any of the composite ailerons, and no maintenance actions had occurred except for repainting of areas with paint loss. Flight hours on the airline components at the time of inspection ranged from 14,597 to 17,180 hours, after approximately 5 years of service.

Stone, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Improved Depiction Of Computed Unsteady Flows

PLOT4D and STREAKER programs increase ease of production and utility of animated depictions of unsteady flows simulated numerically by advanced computational fluid dynamics. Programs developed to maximize information displayed while minimizing amount stored. PLOT4D, an extended version of PLOT3D, used to depict steady three-dimensional flows, incorporates features making it more computationally efficient than to visualize unsteady flow as succession of steady flows, animating frame by frame. PLOT4D postprocesses numerical output of fluid-dynamical computation into maps of flow quantities on two-coordinate surfaces depicting cut through flow field or conform to body surface. STREAKER generates streaklines, close approximations of patterns traced by streams of dye or smoke released into simulated flows. Streaklines defined via spatial succession of endpoints of pathlines of massless particles released into flow. STREAKER computes endpoints by fourth-order Runge-Kutta integration of velocity vectors.

Smith, Merritt H.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Using XML and Java Technologies for Astronomical Instrument Control

Traditionally, instrument command and control systems have been highly specialized, consisting mostly of custom code that is difficult to develop, maintain, and extend. Such solutions are initially very costly and are inflexible to subsequent engineering change requests, increasing software maintenance costs. Instrument description is too tightly coupled with details of implementation. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, under the Instrument Remote Control (IRC) project, is developing a general and highly extensible framework that applies to any kind of instrument that can be controlled by a computer. The software architecture combines the platform independent processing capabilities of Java with the power of the Extensible Markup Language (XML), a human readable and machine understandable way to describe structured data. A key aspect of the object-oriented architecture is that the software is driven by an instrument description, written using the Instrument Markup Language (IML), a dialect of XML. IML is used to describe the command sets and command formats of the instrument, communication mechanisms, format of the data coming from the instrument, and characteristics of the graphical user interface to control and monitor the instrument. The IRC framework allows the users to define a data analysis pipeline which converts data coming out of the instrument. The data can be used in visualizations in order for the user to assess the data in real-time, if necessary. The data analysis pipeline algorithms can be supplied by the user in a variety of forms or programming languages. Although the current integration effort is targeted for the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera (HAWC) and the Submillimeter and Far Infrared Experiment (SAFIRE), first-light instruments of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the framework is designed to be generic and extensible so that it can be applied to any instrument. Plans are underway to test the framework with other types of instruments, such as remote sensing earth science instruments.

Ames, Troy↗
NASA NTRS2001

Microbial contamination of spacecraft

Spacecraft and space habitats supporting human exploration contain a diverse population of microorganisms. Microorganisms may threaten human habitation in many ways that directly or indirectly impact the health, safety, or performance of astronauts. The ability to produce and maintain spacecraft and space stations with environments suitable for human habitation has been established over 40 years of human space flight. An extensive database of environmental microbiological parameters has been provided for short-term (< 20 days) space flight by more than 100 missions aboard the Space Shuttle. The NASA Mir Program provided similar data for long-duration missions. Interestingly, the major bacterial and fungal species found in the Space Shuttle are similar to those encountered in the nearly 15-year-old Mir. Lessons learned from both the US and Russian space programs have been incorporated into the habitability plan for the International Space Station. The focus is on preventive measures developed for spacecraft, cargo, and crews. On-orbit regular housekeeping practices complete with visual inspections are essential, along with microbiological monitoring. Risks associated with extended stays on the Moon or a Mars exploration mission will be much greater than previous experiences because of additional unknown variables. The current knowledge base is insufficient for exploration missions, and research is essential to understand the effects of space flight on biological functions and population dynamics of microorganisms in spacecraft. Equally important is a better understanding of the immune response and of human-microorganism-environment interactions during long-term space habitation.

Mir Project↗
NASA NTRS2006

Generic Environment for Simulating Launch Operations

GEM-FLO (A Generic Simulation Environment for Modeling Future Launch Operations) is a computer program that facilitates creation of discrete-event simulation models of ground processes in which reusable or expendable launch vehicles (RLVs) are prepared for flight. GEM-FLO includes a component, developed in Visual Basic, that generates a graphical user interface (GUI) and a component, developed in the Arena simulation language, that creates a generic discrete-event simulation model. Through the GUI, GEM-FLO elicits RLV design information from the user. The design information can include information on flight hardware elements, resources, and ground processes. GEM-FLO translates the user s responses into mathematical variables and expressions that populate the generic simulation model. The variables and expressions can represent processing times, resource capacities, status variables, and other process parameters needed to configure a simulation model that reflects the ground processing flow and requirements of a specific RLV. Upon execution of the model, GEMFLO puts out data on many measures of performance, including the flight rate, turnaround time, and utilization of resources. This information can serve as the basis for determining whether design goals can be met, and for comparing characteristics of competing RLV designs

Steele, Martin↗
NASA NTRS2001

Microbial Contamination in the Spacecraft

Spacecraft and space habitats supporting human exploration contain a diverse population of microorganisms. Microorganisms may threaten human habitation in many ways that directly or indirectly impact the health, safety, or performance of astronauts. The ability to produce and maintain spacecraft and space stations with environments suitable for human habitation has been established over 40 years of human spaceflight. An extensive database of environmental microbiological parameters has been provided for short-term (< 20 days) spaceflight by more than 100 missions aboard the Space Shuttle. The NASA Mir Program provided similar data for long-duration missions. Interestingly, the major bacterial and fungal species found in the Space Shuttle are similar to those encountered in the nearly 15-year-old Mir. Lessons learned from both the US and Russian space programs have been incorporated into the habitability plan for the International Space Station. The focus is on preventive measures developed for spacecraft, cargo, and crews. On-orbit regular housekeeping practices complete with visual inspections are essential, along with microbiological monitoring. Risks associated with extended stays on the Moon or a Mars exploration mission will be much greater than previous experiences because of additional unknown variables. The current knowledge base is insufficient for exploration missions, and research is essential to understand the effects of spaceflight on biological functions and population dynamics of microorganisms in spacecraft.

Pierson, Duane L.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Semi-Autonomous Rodent Habitat for Deep Space Exploration

NASA has flown animals to space as part of trailblazing missions and to understand the biological responses to spaceflight. Mice traveled in the Lunar Module with the Apollo 17 astronauts and now mice are frequent research subjects in LEO on the ISS. The ISS rodent missions have focused on unravelling biological mechanisms, better understanding risks to astronaut health, and testing candidate countermeasures. A critical barrier for longer-duration animal missions is the need for humans-in-the-loop to perform animal husbandry and perform routine tasks during a mission. Using autonomous or telerobotic systems to alleviate some of these tasks would enable longer-duration missions to be performed at the Deep Space Gateway. Rodent missions performed using the Gateway as a platform could address a number of critical risks identified by the Human Research Program (HRP), as well as Space Biology Program questions identified by NRC Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, (2011). HRP risk areas of potentially greatest relevance that the Gateway rodent missions can address include those related to visual impairment (VIIP) and radiation risks to central nervous system, cardiovascular disease, as well as countermeasure testing. Space Biology focus areas addressed by the Gateway rodent missions include mechanisms and combinatorial effects of microgravity and radiation. The objectives of the work proposed here are to 1) develop capability for semi-autonomous rodent research in cis-lunar orbit, 2) conduct key experiments for testing countermeasures against low gravity and space radiation. The hardware and operations system developed will enable experiments at least one month in duration, which potentially could be extended to one year in duration. To gain novel insights into the health risks to crew of deep space travel (i.e., exposure to space radiation), results obtained from Gateway flight rodents can be compared to ground control groups and separate groups of mice exposed to simulated Galactic Cosmic Radiation (at the NASA Space Radiation Lab). Results can then be compared to identical experiments conducted on the ISS. Together results from Gateway, ground-based, and ISS rodent experiments will provide novel insight into the effects of space radiation.

deep space gateway↗
NASA NTRS2019

Heat Analysis Manager (HAM), a Thermal Desktop API Based Heat Map Generation Software

Thermal engineers often create custom heat maps to analyze their thermal model. However, generating a heat map is difficult because thermal simulation only readily provide attributes of simulated nodes such as temperature, capacitance, heat generation, and a network of conductances. Heat flow values are a derived quantity from the nodal attributes, and the data processing and management of heat flow between nodes quickly become difficult for large models. Deriving a network of heat flow values requires vast amount of calculations and data handling, heat map generation process generally suffers from processing speed, loss of accuracy, and/or presentation of data in a useful format. Heat Analysis Manager (HAM) is a Thermal Desktop (TD) based free multi-purpose tool developed to aid thermal engineers in analyzing their thermal model, including a heat map generation functionality. HAM’s heat map generator retains accuracy and fast processing speed by utilizing TD’s application programming interface (API) and built-in TD’s “Qflow from Results.” Furthermore, HAM’s heat map output is presented in an easily customizable format in Excel, allowing users to create various custom visual heat maps. A full description of how HAM utilizes TD’s API to create a customizable heat map is provided. A simple model demonstration is included along with step-by-step procedures on creating custom heat maps. HAM’s heat map result has been verified against TD’s and other heat map generation software, and verification methods are also included.

Thermal desktop↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA GeneLab: Open Science for Life in Space

The NASA GeneLab project capitalizes on multi-omic technologies to maximize the return on spaceflight experiments. To do this, GeneLab maintains a publicly accessible database (GLDS) that houses spaceflight and spaceflight relevant multi-omics data and collaborates with NASA principal investigators and projects to generate additional omics data. GeneLab houses more than 350 transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and epigenomic datasets from plant, animal and microbial experiments, with a growing number of these having been produced by the GeneLab Sequencing Lab. The GLDS contains rich metadata about each experiment and has integrated radiation dosimetry data from experiments flown on the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and Free Flying spacecrafts. With the increasing amount and complexity of omics data being generated, GeneLab utilizes community-defined, common models for metadata and terminology so that omics data and results are discoverable and reliably reproducible. GeneLab uses the ISA-Tab specification and semantic model for organizing and representing omics metadata. In addition to metadata standards, data files must be open-source file or common exchange formats to ensure accessibility and usability by all users. To ease data ingestion and transfer, the web-based submission tool allows PIs a user-friendly user interface to curate, organize, and publish their space relevant omics data. In the more recent years, data curation and submission portal has incorporated the FAIR principles making data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. To increase reusability of data, GeneLab has implemented an effort to present processed data in the GLDS in addition to the raw omics data. The processed data will enable interpretation of the data by a larger group of students, scientists and the general public. Standard pipelines for the transformation of raw data into visualizations were developed by four GeneLab Analysis Working Groups (animals, plants, microbes, multi-omics) comprised of over 200 scientists from NASA, industry, and academia. To explore the data, the GLDS provides users various tools for data analysis, collaborative workspace for file storage and sharing, and a visualization portal. The analysis platform built using the Galaxy toolshed provides access to a broad variety of users including those with limited bioinformatics experience and students to learn how to analyze spaceflight omics data. The visualization portal takes GeneLab one step closer to data democratization by removing all bioinformatics requisites to interpret transcriptomics data hosted in the repository. To train the next generation of scientists, NASA offers training programs such as GeneLab 4 High School (GL4HS) and GeneLab 4 Universities. NLM Curation at a Scale Workshop 2022 | NASA GeneLab (GL4U) to teach students bioinformatics and computational biology methods to analyze omics data. Discoveries made using GeneLab have begun and will continue to deepen our understanding of biology, advance the field of genomics, and help to discover cures for diseases, create better diagnostic tools, and ultimately allow astronauts to better withstand the rigors of long-duration spaceflight.

GeneLab↗