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At least 1,135 records · Page 63
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2022

Highlights of Aeroacoustic Tests of a Metal Spacecraft Cabin Ventilation Fan Prototype

A metal spacecraft cabin ventilation fan suitable for aerodynamic and acoustic ground tests was designed and tested in the NASA Glenn Research Center Acoustical Testing Laboratory. The fan design featured a low-noise blade-vane count that was chosen to reduce the rotor-stator interaction tone noise. The fan was throttled through its operating range, and results indicated that the measured aerodynamic and acoustic performance was in good agreement with predictions. Recommendations for further research of quiet high-performance fans intended to support long duration human space exploration missions are offered. This small fan aerodynamic and acoustic test rig and the NASA Glenn Acoustical Testing Laboratory are valuable resources available for supporting NASA’s aeronautics research and space exploration missions.

Fan, Noise, Ventilation↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

3D Printed Materials Characterization for Rapid Prototyping and Plant Growth

Space Biology experimentation but their effects during plant growth and sanitation have not been documented. With further testing we can determine how certain 3D printed materials affect our plants. The way we tested germination included laying two pieces of germination paper down with the printed petri dish insert of the various material and 14 seeds of Outrageous lettuce to fit in the holes of the insert. We kept an even moisture in all parts by wrapping the petri dishes in two layers of parafilm tape. This project tests over 15 different materials to document performance during plant growth scenarios. This research will not only help space biology but also citizens who use these materials to understand the potential of leaching and ill effects. 3D printing is a recent generally accessed technology with new materials coming out every day. It is important to understand how materials could impact the way the plants grow, and the safety of the food grown. As we continue testing these materials, we will also test engineering properties like tension and elasticity. We have a microbiology team working on this project as well to test biofilm formation. From the germination tests we have completed we have seen little impact on germination rate of these seeds. However, some parts absorb moisture. An ideal material is one that doesn’t leach chemicals or microplastics, can withstand high tension and compression, and doesn’t promote microbial growth. This work is funded by NASA. M. Gandhi was funded by MAIANSE.

Mily Gandhi↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

APRES Prototype Mission Planner System Demonstration

Activity Planning with Resources for the Exploration of Space (APRES) is a mixed-initiative mission planning system for ground operations. APRES has been designed to support multi-spacecraft missions. The APRES Interface is browser-based and includes a plan editor, a timeline plan display, a temporal constraint editor, display of the state and numeric chronicles, and a violation resolution manager. Automation support is supplied by the APRES Service, which includes components that provide the following capabilities:(1) plan simulation, which determines the state and numeric chronicles (values of the model variables over time) and determines when "processes" are triggered and terminated based on world states in the execution trace, (2) violation detection of constraints and flight rules encoded in the domain model, and of the temporal constraints created by the user, (3) violation resolution suggestions as to how to fix the plan's violations via rescheduling. The user controls when and how to utilize the automation support. Demo video included with paper, runtime 8:54 in color with sound.

John L. Bresina↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The ARADS Project as an Astrobiological Survey Mission Prototype

An astrobiological survey prior to human arrival will be important for preservation of signs of any existing or past evidence of Martian life, to reduce the risk of unintentional forward contamination of Martian environments in which terrestrial microbes might be able to gain a foothold (e.g., [1]), and to potentially protect the health of any human crews and enable their safe return to Earth. Evaluating for the presence of life and biosignatures may become a critical-path Mars exploration precursor in the not-so-far future, circa 2030-35. The near-subsurface, with its potential combination of volatiles, vapor exchange with the surface, and shelter from surface radiation, will be a primary initial target for in-situ astrobiological investigation. Sample acquisition, drilling and sample handling are key elements of robotic missions that target the subsurface [2], as well as near-surface ground ice deposits. In the mid 2000s, the Mars Astrobiology Field Laboratory (AFL) was proposed as a follow-on mission concept to the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)/Curiosity rover mission [3]. The AFL would have included precision drilling to 2m, automated sample handling and remote processing of cores. However, the AFL concept needed further development and maturation. The Atacama Rover Astrobiology Drilling Studies (ARADS) project concept [4] was in part AFL-inspired. The 2014 ARADS concept included a medium sized rover, with habitability instruments, including the Phoenix Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL) [5], and an enhanced version of the ExoMars Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) Laser Desorption-Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (LITMS) [6]. ARADS likewise included two biosignature detection instruments -- the Signs of Life Detector (SOLID) immunoassay instrument [7,8] and the Chemical Laptop-derived [9] Planetary In-Situ Capillary Electrophoresis System (PISCES), while mitigating Planetary Protection-relevant contamination issues [10]. ARADS project objectives were to demonstrate the potential science return for such a mission in the context of the search for evidence of life, and technically to demonstrate the feasibility of roving with drilling missions to Mars. ARADS technology goals targeted analog-site demonstrations of automated drilling and sampling, integrated with its mobile habitability and biosignature detection instruments. And ARADS science operations goals developed remote science, contamination mitigation, and communications methods to enable simulating AFL-like science operations with time delays, directed by a remote science team[11]. Five subsequent Mars analog site field demonstrations (in Chile’s hyperarid Atacama Desert, 2016-19) provided a step-by-step development pathway for the ARADS platform’s science capabilities and systems integration, culminating in an integrated remote roving mission simulation in the final ARADS year (2019).

biosignatures↗