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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 1,207 records · Page 67
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Generalized EC&LSS computer program configuration control

The generalized environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) computer program (G189A) simulation of the shuttle orbiter ECLSS was upgraded. The G189A component model configuration was changed to represent the current PV102 and subsequent vehicle ECLSS configurations as defined by baseline ARS and ATCS schematics. The diagrammatic output schematics of the gas, water, and freon loops were also revised to agree with the new ECLSS configuration. The accuracy of the transient analysis was enhanced by incorporating the thermal mass effects of the equipment, structure, and fluid in the ARS gas and water loops and in the ATCS freon loops. The sources of the data used to upgrade the simulation are: (1) ATCS freon loop line sizes and lengths; (2) ARS water loop line sizes and lengths; (3) ARS water loop and ATCS freon loop component and equipment weights; and (4) ARS cabin and avionics bay thermal capacitance and conductance values. A single G189A combination master program library tape was generated which contains all of the master program library versions which were previously maintained on separate tapes. A new component subroutine, PIPETL, was developed and incorporated into the G189A master program library.

Blakely, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The stratigraphic sequence of volcanic and sedimentary units in the north polar region of Mars

Based on photogeologic mapping of Viking orbiter images of Mars, four distinct informal stratigraphic units are defined for the region north of 70 degrees N latitude. They are: (a) bulbous plains, (b) mantled plains, (c) dune deposits, and (d) layered deposits/perennial ice. Background information on the Martian polar caps is provided from telescopic observation, Mariner mission results, and Viking mission results (August 1976-November 1978). A description, and an interpretation and distribution of the stratigraphic units are presented. Surface winds, which were determined from dune orientations, and discussed and implications for the source of circumpolar dune materials are delineated. A list of the Viking Orbiter imagery used in the research, the computer programs for crater size frequency distributions, and the crater size frequency data are presented.

Botts, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) advanced expander cycle engine point design study

Progress in the development of a performance optimized engine system design for an advanced LOX/hydrogen expander cycle engine is reported. Analysis of the components and engine and the resulting drawings is discussed. The status of the orbit transfer vehicle liquid engine transient simulation computer model is given.

Mellish, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Reentry heat transfer analysis of the space shuttle orbiter

A structural performance and resizing finite element thermal analysis computer program was used in the reentry heat transfer analysis of the space shuttle. Two typical wing cross sections and a midfuselage cross section were selected for the analysis. The surface heat inputs to the thermal models were obtained from aerodynamic heating analyses, which assumed a purely turbulent boundary layer, a purely laminar boundary layer, separated flow, and transition from laminar to turbulent flow. The effect of internal radiation was found to be quite significant. With the effect of the internal radiation considered, the wing lower skin temperature became about 39 C (70 F) lower. The results were compared with fight data for space transportation system, trajectory 1. The calculated and measured temperatures compared well for the wing if laminar flow was assumed for the lower surface and bay one upper surface and if separated flow was assumed for the upper surfaces of bays other than bay one. For the fuselage, good agreement between the calculated and measured data was obtained if laminar flow was assumed for the bottom surface. The structural temperatures were found to reach their peak values shortly before touchdown. In addition, the finite element solutions were compared with those obtained from the conventional finite difference solutions.

Ko, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The ERODYN and QRPIG computer programs

The role of the ERODYN computer program in providing error analyses involving orbital, geodetic, and geophysical parameters is discussed. It was designed to operate as a companion program to the GEODYN orbit determination and parameter estimating program. The Q R Partitioned Eigenvalue/Eigenvector analysis program (QRPIG) is designed to process symmetric matrices with an out-of-core partitioning algorithm for the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the matrices.

Felsentreger, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Photoionization of sodium atoms and electron scattering from ionized sodium

The polarized-orbital method of Temkin (1957) is applied using polarized orbitals determined from Sternheimer's equation to compute the photoionization cross sections of Na atoms from threshold to about 60 eV. The approximations involved in the analysis are explained in detail; the explicit forms of the integrals and matrix expressions are given in appendices; and the results are presented in tables and graphs. Good agreement is found with the results of Chang and Kelly (1975), and the possibility that small amounts of molecular vapor in Na-photoionization experiments are responsible for the discrepancies between calculated and measured cross sections is considered.

Dasgupta, A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Hypersonic aerothermodynamics status report

This survey paper gives an overview of NASA's Aerothermodynamics program. The purpose is to present the elements of, example results from, and projected technology needs for hypersonic fluid and thermal physics. The NASA program is focused on improving the fundamental understanding of aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic flow phenomena over hypersonic vehicles operating in the continuum, transitional, and free molecule flow regime. Vehicle design capabilities, computational fluid dynamics, computational chemistry, turbulence modeling, aerothermal loading, Shuttle Orbiter flight data analysis, and aerothermal facilities are discussed.

Graves, R. A., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Advanced simulation and analysis of a geopotential research mission

Computer simulations have been performed for an orbital gradiometer mission to assist in the study of high degree and order gravity field recovery. The simulations were conducted for a satellite in near-circular, frozen orbit at a 160-km altitude using a gravitational field complete to degree and order 360. The mission duration is taken to be 32 days. The simulation provides a set of measurements to assist in the evaluation of techniques developed for the determination of the gravity field. Also, the simulation provides an ephemeris to study available tracking systems to satisfy the orbit determination requirements of the mission.

Schutz, B. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Plasma contactor modeling with NASCAP/LEO - Extending laboratory results to space systems

In the laboratory, hollow cathode-based plasma contactors have been observed to both emit and collect ampere-level electron currents with low impedance. The laboratory behavior of hollow cathode-based plasma contactors and the limited space experience with hollow cathodes suggest that, for many applications, a hollow cathode-based plasma contactor is the ideal device to provide electrical connection with the space plasma. In order to confidently extend the laboratory experience to the low-earth-orbit environment, a series of plasma contactor computer models has been developed. Calculations show that a hollow cathode plasma contactor that collects 0.5 A in the laboratory will only collect 2.4 mA in space. The simplest way to boost the collected current is to increase the gas flow. A mole of gas is enough to collect ampere level currents for 5-1/2 hours.

Davis, V. A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The effect of ionization on the infrared absorption spectra of PAHs: A preliminary report

The emission lines observed in many interstellar IR sources at 3.28, 6.2, 7.7, 8.7, and 11.3 microns are theorized to originate from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These assignments are based on analyses of lab IR spectra of neutral PAHs. However, it is likely that in the interstellar medium that PAHs are ionized, i.e., are positively charged. Besides, as pointed out by Allamandola et al., although the IR emission band spectrum resembles what one might expect from a mixture of PAHs, it does not match in details such as frequency, band profile, or relative intensities predicted from the absorption spectra of any known PAH molecule. One source of more information to test the PAH theory is ab initio molecular orbital theory. It can be used to compute, from first principles, the geometries, vibrational frequencies, and vibrational intensities for model PAH compounds which are difficult to study in the lab. The Gaussian 86 computer program was used to determine the effect of ionization on the infrared absorption spectra of several small PAHs: naphthalene and anthracene. A preliminary report is presented of the results of these calculations.

Defrees, Doug J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Solution strategies and heat transfer calculations for three-dimensional configurations at hypersonic speeds

A procedure which reduces the memory requirements for computing the viscous flow over a modified Orbiter geometry at a hypersonic flight condition is presented. The Langley Aerothermodynamic Upwind Relaxation Algorithm (LAURA) code which incorporates a thermochemical nonequilibrium chemistry model, a finite rate catalytic wall boundary condition and wall temperature distribution based on radiation equilibrium is used in this study. In addition, the effect of choice of 'min mod' function, eigenvalue limiter and grid density on surface heating is investigated. The surface heating from a flowfield calculation at Mach number 22, altitude of 230,000 ft and 40 deg angle of attack is compared with flight data from three Orbiter flights.

Weilmuenster, K. J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Pictorial communication in virtual and real environments

Papers about the communication between human users and machines in real and synthetic environments are presented. Individual topics addressed include: pictorial communication, distortions in memory for visual displays, cartography and map displays, efficiency of graphical perception, volumetric visualization of 3D data, spatial displays to increase pilot situational awareness, teleoperation of land vehicles, computer graphics system for visualizing spacecraft in orbit, visual display aid for orbital maneuvering, multiaxis control in telemanipulation and vehicle guidance, visual enhancements in pick-and-place tasks, target axis effects under transformed visual-motor mappings, adapting to variable prismatic displacement. Also discussed are: spatial vision within egocentric and exocentric frames of reference, sensory conflict in motion sickness, interactions of form and orientation, perception of geometrical structure from congruence, prediction of three-dimensionality across continuous surfaces, effects of viewpoint in the virtual space of pictures, visual slant underestimation, spatial constraints of stereopsis in video displays, stereoscopic stance perception, paradoxical monocular stereopsis and perspective vergence. (No individual items are abstracted in this volume)

Ellis, Stephen R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Model of spacecraft atomic oxygen and solar exposure microenvironments

Computer models of environmental conditions in Earth orbit are needed for the following reasons: (1) derivation of material performance parameters from orbital test data, (2) evaluation of spacecraft hardware designs, (3) prediction of material service life, and (4) scheduling spacecraft maintenance. To meet these needs, Boeing has developed programs for modeling atomic oxygen (AO) and solar radiation exposures. The model allows determination of AO and solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposures for spacecraft surfaces (1) in arbitrary orientations with respect to the direction of spacecraft motion, (2) overall ranges of solar conditions, and (3) for any mission duration. The models have been successfully applied to prediction of experiment environments on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) and for analysis of selected hardware designs for deployment on other spacecraft. The work on these models has been reported at previous LDEF conferences. Since publication of these reports, a revision has been made to the AO calculation for LDEF, and further work has been done on the microenvironments model for solar exposure.

Bourassa, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Analytical investigations in aircraft and spacecraft trajectory optimization and optimal guidance

A collection of analytical studies is presented related to unconstrained and constrained aircraft (a/c) energy-state modeling and to spacecraft (s/c) motion under continuous thrust. With regard to a/c unconstrained energy-state modeling, the physical origin of the singular perturbation parameter that accounts for the observed 2-time-scale behavior of a/c during energy climbs is identified and explained. With regard to the constrained energy-state modeling, optimal control problems are studied involving active state-variable inequality constraints. Departing from the practical deficiencies of the control programs for such problems that result from the traditional formulations, a complete reformulation is proposed for these problems which, in contrast to the old formulation, will presumably lead to practically useful controllers that can track an inequality constraint boundary asymptotically, and even in the presence of 2-sided perturbations about it. Finally, with regard to s/c motion under continuous thrust, a thrust program is proposed for which the equations of 2-dimensional motion of a space vehicle in orbit, viewed as a point mass, afford an exact analytic solution. The thrust program arises under the assumption of tangential thrust from the costate system corresponding to minimum-fuel, power-limited, coplanar transfers between two arbitrary conics. The thrust program can be used not only with power-limited propulsion systems, but also with any propulsion system capable of generating continuous thrust of controllable magnitude, and, for propulsion types and classes of transfers for which it is sufficiently optimal the results of this report suggest a method of maneuvering during planetocentric or heliocentric orbital operations, requiring a minimum amount of computation; thus uniquely suitable for real-time feedback guidance implementations.

Markopoulos, Nikos↗
NASA NTRS1994

Rarefield-Flow Shuttle Aerodynamics Flight Model

A model of the Shuttle Orbiter rarefied-flow aerodynamic force coefficients has been derived from the ratio of flight acceleration measurements. The in-situ, low-frequency (less than 1Hz), low-level (approximately 1 x 10(exp -6) g) acceleration measurements are made during atmospheric re-entry. The experiment equipment designed and used for this task is the High Resolution Accelerometer Package (HiRAP), one of the sensor packages in the Orbiter Experiments Program. To date, 12 HiRAP re-entry mission data sets spanning a period of about 10 years have been processed. The HiRAP-derived aerodynamics model is described in detail. The model includes normal and axial hypersonic continuum coefficient equations as function of angle of attack, body-flap deflection, and elevon deflection. Normal and axial free molecule flow coefficient equations as a function of angle of attack are also presented, along with flight-derived rarefied-flow transition bridging formulae. Comparisons are made between the aerodynamics model, data from the latest Orbiter Operational Aerodynamic Design Data Book, applicable computer simulations, and wind-tunnel data.

Blanchard, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Synthesis of Contributed Simulations for OREX Test Cases

A synthesis is presented of the computer simulations of the flow over the Orbital Reentry Vehicle (ORV) at the 92.8 km and 63.6 km Earth altitude trajectory points that were discussed at the First Europe-U.S. High Speed Flow Field Database Workshop Part 2, Napoli, Italy, November 1997. For the materials used on the surface of ORV, the non-catalytic wall condition is appropriate at 92.8 km and the finite-rate catalytic wall condition at 63.6 km. Additional simulations are required for establishing the independency of the discussed results from numerics. The proper modeling of natural phenomena needs further sensitivity studies. The uncertainties of inferred flight data are lacking for a proper evaluation of the presented results.

Mehta, Unmeel B.↗
NASA NTRS1999

COSS Lesson Creation Process

COSS (Crew On-Orbit System Support) is changing. Designed as computer based in-flight refresher training, it is getting good reviews and the demands on the product can be expected to increase. Last year, the lessons were written using Authorware, which had a number of limitations. The most important one was that the navigation and the layout functions were both in one package that was not easy to learn. The lesson creator had to be good at both programming and design. There were also a number of other problems, as detailed in my report last year. This year the COSS unit made the switch to embrace modularity. The navigation function is handled by a player that was custom-written using Delphi. The layout pages are now standard HTML files that can be created using any number of products. This new system gives new flexibility and unties the process from one product (and one company). The player can be re-written by a programmer without affecting the lesson pages. It is also now possible for anybody with a word-processor to make part of the HTML lesson pages and to use many of the new commercially available tools that are being designed for web pages. This summer I created a computer-based training (CBT) lesson on the IBM ThinkPad 760 ED and 760XD laptop computers that should fly on the International Space Station. I also examined the COSS system, the new player and the other new software products.

Harper, R. Stephen↗