System protection requirements for the resistance of meteoroid penetration damage.
Study of protection requirements for resistance of meteorite penetration damage for various interplanetary spacecraft systems
SPACECRAFT DESIGN↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “INTERPLANETARY SPACE”
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Power systems for production, construction, life support and operations in space
As one looks to man's future in space it becomes obvious that unprecedented amounts of power are required for the exploration, colonization, and exploitation of space. Activities envisioned include interplanetary travel and LEO to GEO transport using electric propulsion, Earth and lunar observatories, advance space stations, free-flying manufacturing platforms, communications platforms, and eventually evolutionary lunar and Mars bases. These latter bases would start as camps with modest power requirements (kWes) and evolve to large bases as manufacturing, food production, and life support materials are developed from lunar raw materials. These latter activities require very robust power supplies (MWes). The advanced power system technologies being pursued by NASA to fulfill these future needs are described. Technologies discussed will include nuclear, photovoltaic, and solar dynamic space power systems, including energy storage, power conditioning, power transmission, and thermal management. The state-of-the-art and gains to be made by technology advancements will be discussed. Mission requirements for a variety of applications (LEO, GEO, lunar, and Martian) will be treated, and data for power systems ranging from a few kilowatts to megawatt power systems will be represented. In addition the space power technologies being initiated under NASA's new Civilian Space Technology Initiative (CSTI) and Space Leadership Planning Group Activities will be discussed.
Sovie, Ronald J.↗
Power systems for production, construction, life support, and operations in space
As one looks to man's future in space it becomes obvious that unprecedented amounts of power are required for the exploration, colonization, and exploitation of space. Activities envisioned include interplanetary travel and LEO to GEO transport using electric propulsion, earth and lunar observatories, advance space stations, free-flying manufacturing platforms, communications platforms, and eventually evolutionary lunar and Mars bases. These latter bases would start as camps with modest power requirements (kWes) and evolve to large bases as manufacturing, food production, and life support materials are developed from lunar raw materials. These latter activities require very robust power supplies (MWes). The advanced power system technologies being pursued by NASA to fulfill these future needs are described. Technologies discussed will include nuclear, photovoltaic, and solar dynamic space power systems, including energy storage, power conditioning, power transmission, and thermal management. The state-of-the-art and gains to be made by technology advancements will be discussed. Mission requirements for a variety of applications (LEO, GEO, lunar, and Martian) will be treated, and data for power systems ranging from a few kilowatts to megawatt power systems will be represented. In addition the space power technologies being initiated under NASA's new Civilian Space Technology Initiative (CSTI) and Space Leadership Planning Group Activities will be discussed.
Sovie, Ronald J.↗
Lunar BioSensor: An Autonomous Instrument to Study the Effects of the Lunar Environment on Biological Organisms
One of the major challenges to long-duration space travel and habitation in deep space is an in-depth understanding of the biological effects of space radiation, often convoluted by the impact of reduced gravity. Nonetheless, due to the near impossibility of simulating prolonged exposure to these combined effects in terrestrial facilities, actual missions are needed to characterize the radiobiological hazards of this environment. NASA Ames has been the leader in developing autonomous bio nanosatellites to address strategic knowledge gaps about the effects of space travel on biological organisms, including GeneSat, PharmaSat, EcAMSat, and BioSentinel. BioSentinel will be the first interplanetary bio nanosatellite or CubeSat to study the biological response to space radiation outside Low Earth Orbit (LEO). BioSentinel is an autonomous platform able to support biology and to investigate the effects of space radiation on a model organism in interplanetary deep space. It will fly onboard NASA’s Artemis-1, from which it will be deployed on a lunar fly-by trajectory and into a heliocentric orbit. The BioSentinel nanosatellite, a 6U deep space CubeSat (1U = 10-cm cube), will measure the DNA damage and response to ambient space radiation in a model biological organism, the budding yeast S. cerevisiae, which will be compared to information provided by an onboard physical radiation sensor and to data obtained in LEO (on the ISS) and on Earth. Even though the primary objective of the mission is to develop an autonomous spacecraft capable of conducting biological experiments in deep space, the 4U BioSensor science payload contained within the 6U free-flyer is an adaptable instrument platform that can perform biological measurements with different microorganisms and in multiple space environments, including the ISS, lunar gateway, and on the surface of the Moon. The proposed 4U instrument will leverage the payload design of the 6U free-flyer, utilizing the lunar lander or vehicle for power and data relay. Thus, nanosatellites like BioSentinel (and Lunar BioSensor) can be used to study the effects of both reduced gravity and space radiation and can house different bio organisms to answer specific science questions. In addition to their flexibility, nanosatellites also provide a low-cost alternative to more complex and larger missions, and require minimal crew support, if any.
space biosensors↗
REVIEW OF DIRECT MEASUREMENTS OF INTERPLANETARY DUST FROM SATELLITES AND PROBES
Measurement of interplanetary dust by satellites and space probes
INTERPLANETARY DUST↗
Space station
The history of American space flight indicates that a space station is the next logical step in the scientific pursuit of greater knowledge of the universe. The Space Station and its complement of space vehicles, developed by NASA, will add new dimensions to an already extensive space program in the United States. The Space Station offers extraordinary benefits for a comparatively modest investment (currently estimated at one-ninth the cost of the Apollo Program). The station will provide a permanent multipurpose facility in orbit necessary for the expansion of space science and technology. It will enable significant advancements in life sciences research, satellite communications, astronomy, and materials processing. Eventually, the station will function in support of the commercialization and industrialization of space. Also, as a prerequisite to manned interplanetary exploration, the long-duration space flights typical of Space Station missions will provide the essential life sciences research to allow progressively longer human staytime in space.
Stewart, Donald F.↗
Turbulence and scintillations in the interplanetary plasma.
The properties of the broadband fluctuations of the interplanetary plasma are discussed, taking into account observations in the vicinity of 1 AU heliocentric radius on space probes. Aspects of interplanetary scintillations and angular broadening as a probe of the solar wind are considered, giving attention to the 'thin-screen' approximation, a three-dimensional model of interplanetary scintillations, the structure of density fluctuations, and the determination of solar wind velocity from scintillations. It is pointed out that the theoretical understanding of the origin and evolution of the fluctuations and their full import for the solar wind is still at a relatively rudimentary stage.
Jokipii, J. R.↗
Exploration of the moon and planets
Unmanned interplanetary flight - engineering problems of mariner ii space probe
INTERPLANETARY FLIGHT↗
The performance of advanced solar cells for interplanetary missions
Recent advances in space solar cell technology have produced substantial increases in Air mass Zero (AM0) efficiency.
photovoltaic LILT interplanetary power↗
The Performance of Advanced Solar Cells for Interplanetary Missions
Recent advances in space cell technology have produced substantial increases in Air Mass zero efficiency. Since these cells have been developed primarily for Earth orbiting missions, little is known of their behavior at distances far from the sun.
solar cells LILT interplanetary missions↗
Micrometeorites <les micrometeorites<.
Spatial micrometeorites distribution and influx rate as indicated by spacecraft and space radiation observation
INTERPLANETARY DUST↗
The importance of capturing unmodified chondritic porous micrometeorites on the space station
The survival of interplanetary dust particles (IDP's) during deceleration by the Earth's atmosphere is determined by their entry parameters, velocity, size and mass. These IDP's reach their terminal velocity at about 55 to 95 km altitude before they gradually settle to 18 to 21 km altitude where they are collected by high flying aircraft. Chondritic porous IDP's (also called chondritic porous (CP) aggregates) show properties consistent with an extraterrestrial origin. It is conceivable that CP aggregates may be collected above the Earth's atmosphere using capture devices on a space station or satellite. In order to preserve pristine CP aggregates, i.e., aggregates with minimal perturbation or degradation of its particulate matter, it is necessary to transfer the kinetic energy on impact so that a minimum amount of energy is dissipated into the impacting particle. It is likely that low-temperature minerals (e.g., layer silicates), volatile phases (e.g., sulfides), structural defects (e.g. nuclear tracks) and hydrocarbons in CP aggregates are sensitive to the efficiency of kinetic energy dissipation.
Rietmeijer, F. J. M.↗
Computer aided system engineering for space construction
This viewgraph presentation covers the following topics. Construction activities envisioned for the assembly of large platforms in space (as well as interplanetary spacecraft and bases on extraterrestrial surfaces) require computational tools that exceed the capability of conventional construction management programs. The Center for Space Construction is investigating the requirements for new computational tools and, at the same time, suggesting the expansion of graduate and undergraduate curricula to include proficiency in Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) though design courses and individual or team projects in advanced space systems design. In the center's research, special emphasis is placed on problems of constructability and of the interruptability of planned activity sequences to be carried out by crews operating under hostile environmental conditions. The departure point for the planned work is the acquisition of the MCAE I-DEAS software, developed by the Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC), and its expansion to the level of capability denoted by the acronym IDEAS**2 currently used for configuration maintenance on Space Station Freedom. In addition to improving proficiency in the use of I-DEAS and IDEAS**2, it is contemplated that new software modules will be developed to expand the architecture of IDEAS**2. Such modules will deal with those analyses that require the integration of a space platform's configuration with a breakdown of planned construction activities and with a failure modes analysis to support computer aided system engineering (CASE) applied to space construction.
Racheli, Ugo↗
Modeled Microgravity Inhibits Apoptosis in Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes
Impairment of the immunity in astronauts and cosmonauts even in short term flights is a recognized risk. Long term orbital space missions and anticipated interplanetary flights increase the concern for more pronounced effects on the immune system with potential clinical consequences. Impairment of the immunity in space may be due tonumerous physiological changes caused by space-related factors, which in turn affect the immune system, or alternatively, it may be due to direct effects of different factors encountered in space on lymphoid cells and their interactions. Indeed, in modeled microgravity (MMG) experiments on Earth we and others showed that microgravity directly affects multiple lymphocyte functions. It interferes with expression of cell surface molecules, causes inhibition of lymphocyte locomotion, suppresses polyclopal and antigen-specific lymphocyte activation, selectively inhibits protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms. Some of these effects were also confirmed in cell culture experiments in real space conditions during Spacelab, Biokosmos and Shuttle Missions. The results of these studies, taken together, strongly indicated that microgravity interferes with fundamental biological processes associated with functional and structural changes in cell surface membranes, cell surface molecules and in their interaction. Based on the data and on their interpretation, we hypothesized that microgravity in addition to observed functional changes affects programmed cell death (PCD) in lymphocyte populations and that this mechanism could contribute to the impairment of the immunity.
Risin, Diana↗
Radiation Effects: Core Project
The risks to personnel in space from the naturally occurring radiations are generally considered to be one of the most serious limitations to human space missions, as noted in two recent reports of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences. The Core Project of the Radiation Effects Team for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute is the consequences of radiations in space in order to develop countermeasure, both physical and pharmaceutical, to reduce the risks of cancer and other diseases associated with such exposures. During interplanetary missions, personnel in space will be exposed to galactic cosmic rays, including high-energy protons and energetic ions with atomic masses of iron or higher. In addition, solar events will produce radiation fields of high intensity for short but irregular durations. The level of intensity of these radiations is considerably higher than that on Earth's surface, and the biological risks to astronauts is consequently increased, including increased risks of carcinogenesis and other diseases. This group is examining the risk of cancers resulting from low-dose, low-dose rate exposures of model systems to photons, protons, and iron by using ground-based accelerators which are capable of producing beams of protons, iron, and other heavy ions at energies comparable to those encountered in space. They have begun the first series of experiments using a 1-GeV iron beam at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and 250-MeV protons at Loma Linda University Medical Center's proton synchrotron facility. As part of these studies, this group will be investigating the potential for the pharmaceutical, Tamoxifen, to reduce the risk of breast cancer in astronauts exposed to the level of doses and particle types expected in space. Theoretical studies are being carried out in a collaboration between scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center and Johns Hopkins University in parallel with the experimental program have provided methods and predictions which are being used to assess the levels of risks to be encountered and to evaluate appropriate strategies for countermeasures. Although the work in this project is primarily directed toward problems associated with space travel, the problem of protracted exposures to low-levels of radiation is one of national interest in our energy and defense programs, and the results may suggest new paradigms for addressing such risks.
Dicello, John F.↗
Middleware services for the interplanetary network
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
middleware space communication remote exploration ↗
Fusion power for space propulsion.
Principles of operation, interplanetary orbit-to-orbit mission capabilities, technical problems, and environmental safeguards are examined for thermonuclear fusion propulsion systems. Two systems examined include (1) a fusion-electric concept in which kinetic energy of charged particles from the plasma is converted into electric power (for accelerating the propellant in an electrostatic thrustor) by the van de Graaf generator principle and (2) the direct fusion rocket in which energetic plasma lost from the reactor has a suitable amount of added propellant to obtain the optimum exhaust velocity. The deuterium-tritium and the deuterium/helium-3 reactions are considered as suitable candidates, and attention is given to problems of cryogenic refrigeration systems, magnet shielding, and high-energy particle extraction and guidance.
Roth, R.↗