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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2023

Galvanic Vestibular Reduction Modifies Perception of Coriolis Cross-Coupling and Delays Motion Sickness Onset

INTRODUCTION: Alterations in vestibular sensory processing following G-transitions lead to head movement sensitivity and motion sickness upon return to Earth’s gravity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a non-pharmaceutical tool using galvanic vestibular reduction (GVR) could suppress disorienting illusions and mitigate motion sickness. A similar approach using anodal (inhibitory) currents delivered to both ears has been shown to result in a selective reversible ablation of irregular vestibular afferents [1]. METHODS: Using a repeated measures counter-balanced design, motion sickness and perception were obtained in 26 subjects during Coriolis cross-coupling stimuli on a rotating chair across three GVR treatment interventions: throughout stimulus testing (prevention), following symptom onset (rescue), and placebo control. The GVR peak current was maintained at 2.5 mA across subjects and across prevention / rescue sessions. Subjects performed up to 10 sets of pitch head movements during constant rotation. For each set, head movement was cued every 10 seconds, alternating between pitch forward (chin resting to chest) and pitch backward (head upright) for a total of 7 forward and backward movements. During each head movement, subjects were asked to use a joystick to record the magnitude of their perceived rotation along three axes. During the 2-minute pause between sets, motion sickness symptom scoring was obtained using the Pensacola Diagnostic Index and subject discomfort (0-20) ratings. Performance on a sensorimotor and cognitive test battery was measured during a fourth session to map changes in GVR level with functional performance. RESULTS: Fourteen of the 26 subjects were not susceptible to the motion stressor (i.e., did not reach an endpoint in the control condition). While the time to endpoint, or number of head movements, did not significantly vary across the three GVR conditions in the remaining subjects, the symptom levels were significantly lower through the third set of head movements when GVR was on throughout the testing. Initiating GVR following symptom onset did not appear to alter the symptom progression nor time to motion sickness endpoint. Based on the joystick measures, GVR significantly modified the perceived roll and pitch sensation during head movements, reducing the amplitude of tilt in most subjects. It is important to note that comparable levels of GVR did not impair performance on a functional test battery including mobility, balance and cognitive tasks. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest GVR may be useful in reducing disorienting roll and pitch illusions and delaying the onset of motion sickness. Further enhancements will be required to individualize the stimulation amplitude and optimize the waveform delivery. Adapting this non-pharmaceutical countermeasure approach to allow self-administered titration of current amplitude during recovery would enable transfer to post-flight treatment of motion sickness. [1] Minor L. B. and Goldberg J. M. (1991) J Neurosci 11, 1636-48. 109, 889-894.

G N Pradhan↗
NASA NTRS1999

Precision contact of the fingertip reduces postural sway of individuals with bilateral vestibular loss

Contact of the hand with a stationary surface attenuates postural sway in normal individuals even when the level of force applied is mechanically inadequate to dampen body motion. We studied whether subjects without vestibular function would be able to substitute contact cues from the hand for their lost labyrinthine function and be able to balance as well as normal subjects in the dark without finger contact. We also studied the relative contribution of sight of the test chamber to the two groups. Subjects attempted to maintain a tandem Romberg stance for 25 s under three levels of fingertip contact: no contact; light-touch contact, up to 1 N (approximately 100 g) force; and unrestricted contact force. Both eyes open and eyes closed conditions were evaluated. Without contact, none of the vestibular loss subjects could stand for more than a few seconds in the dark without falling; all the normals could. The vestibular loss subjects were significantly more stable in the dark with light touch of the index finger than the normal subjects in the dark without touch. They also swayed less in the dark with light touch than when permitted sight of the test chamber without touch, and less with sight and touch than just sight. The normal subjects swayed less in the dark with touch than without, and less with sight and touch than sight alone. These findings show that during quiet stance light touch of the index finger with a stationary surface can be as effective or even more so than vestibular function for minimizing postural sway.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
NASA NTRS1986

The energy balance of plasmoids in the solar atmosphere

The properties of an isolated magnetized plasmoid in a nonuniform magnetic field such as arises in stellar atmospheres are studied. The work of Pneuman and Cargill (1985) on the so-called melon-seed effect is extended to include an equation describing the energy balance, so giving a unified picture of the shape, motion, and energetics of the plasmoid. Three treatments of plasmoid energy balance are considered: (1) a polytropic law, (P = about N to the gamma); (2) one in which the plasmoid cools radiatively; and (3) one in which a heating function proportional to the local density balances the radiation. For a gamma = 4/3 polytrope the evolution is self-similar, so that the plasmoid maintains its shape as it moves out from the stellar surface. If gamma is less than 4/3, the final shape is a long thin cigar-shaped body, whereas if gamma is greater than or equal to 4/3, it ultimately becomes self-similar. In cases with radiation and also with heating, the ultimate shape of the plasmoid is determined by whether its gas or magnetic pressure dominate. The former is equivalent to the gamma-less-than-4/3 polytrope, and the latter to the gamma-greater-than-4/3 one. If radiation alone is present, the plasmoid cools rapidly and subsequently evolves self-similarly. If heating balances radiation initially, then the plasmoid heats up as it moves out, but, if the ratio of the transit of time of Alfven waves across it is much less than the radiative cooling time, it ultimately evolves as a gamma = 5/3 polytrope. In each case the plasmoid can be ejected to large distances (several radii) in a stellar atmosphere, for a reasonable choice of surface parameters.

Cargill, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Liquid water on Mars - An energy balance climate model for CO2/H2O atmospheres

A simple climatic model is developed for a Mars atmosphere containing CO2 and sufficient liquid water to account for the observed hydrologic surface features by the existence of a CO2/H2O greenhouse effect. A latitude-resolved climate model originally devised for terrestrial climate studies is applied to Martian conditions, with the difference between absorbed solar flux and emitted long-wave flux to space per unit area attributed to the divergence of the meridional heat flux and the poleward heat flux assumed to equal the atmospheric eddy heat flux. The global mean energy balance is calculated as a function of atmospheric pressure to assess the CO2/H2O greenhouse liquid water hypothesis, and some latitude-resolved cases are examined in detail in order to clarify the role of atmospheric transport and temperature-albedo feedback. It is shown that the combined CO2/H2O greenhouse at plausible early surface pressures may account for climates hot enough to support a hydrological cycle and running water at present-day insolation and visible albedo levels.

Hoffert, M. I.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A high temperature thermal diffusivity determination procedure for solids and liquids

A new method for measuring the thermal diffusivity of materials at high temperatures is presented. The method is applicable to solids on Earth, and to liquids in the reduced gravity environment of space. It is especially suited to levitated liquid metals at elevated temperatures where thermal diffusivity data is not available. The method is applied in two parts, such that lumped analysis is valid in the first part, and Fourier's law of conduction is valid in the second. In both parts, the spherical specimen is assumed to have been heated to a desired temperature and cooled. An inverse conduction problem is then formulated and solved using Laplace transformation techniques. Using this solution, sample sizes, and experimentally obtained surface temperature history, the thermal diffusivity is determined by minimizing a function that satisifies the heat balance at the surface. Minimization is performed using a modified quasilinearization algorithm. Accuracy is very sensitive to error in the temperature data and increases with better curve fits to the temperature data. An error analysis is also performed, and the effect of errors in the various parameters on the evaluated thermal diffusivity is determined. An experimental study for solids on Earth is suggested, before development for implementation in space.

Bayazitoglu, Yildiz↗
NASA NTRS1994

The conductive propagation of nuclear flames. 2: Convectively bounded flames in C + O and O + Ne + Mg cores

We determine the speeds, and many other physical properties, of flame fronts that propagate inward into degenerate and semidegenerate cores of carbon and oxygen (CO) and neon and oxygen (NeOMg) white dwarfs when such flames are bounded on their exterior by a convective region. Combustion in such fronts, per se, is incomplete, with only a small part of the initial mass function burned. A condition of balanced power is set up in the star where the rate of energy emitted as neutrinos from the convective region equals the power available from the unburned fuel that crosses the burning front. The propagation of the burning front itself is in turn limited by the temperature at the base of the convective shell, while cannot greatly exceed the adiabatic value. Solving for consistency between these two conditions gives a unique speed for the flame. Typical values for CO white dwarfs are a few hundredths of a centimeter per second. Flames in NeOMg mixtures are slower. Tables are presented in a form that can easily be implemented in stellar evolution codes and yield the rate at which the convective shell advances into the interior. Combining these velocities with the local equations for stellar structure, we find a minimum density for each gravitational potential below with the local equations for stellar structure, we find a minimum density for each gravitational potential below which the flame cannot propagate, and must die. Although detailed stellar models will have to be constructed to reslove some issues conclusively, our results that a CO white dwarf inginted at its edge will not burn carbon all the way to its center unless the mass of the white dwarf exceeds 0.8 solar mass. On the other hand, it is difficult to ignite carbon burning by compression alone anywhere in a white dwarf whose mass does not exceed 1.0 solar mass. Thus, compressionally ignited shell carbon burning in an accerting CO dwarf almost certainly propagates all the way to the center of the star. Implications for neutron star formation, and Type Ia supernova models, are briefly discussed. These are also applicable to massive stars in the about 10-12 solar mass range which ignite neon burning off center.

Timmes, F. X.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The detailed balance requirement and general empirical formalisms for continuum absorption

Two general empirical formalisms are presented for the spectral density which take into account the deviations from the Lorentz line shape in the wing regions of resonance lines. These formalisms satisfy the detailed balance requirement. Empirical line shape functions, which are essential to provide the continuum absorption at different temperatures in various frequency regions for atmospheric transmission codes, can be obtained by fitting to experimental data.

Ma, Q.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Case Study of the Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade Software

The purpose of the Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade project was to reduce crew workload and improve situational awareness. The upgrade was to augment the Shuttle avionics system with new hardware and software. An early version of this system was used to gather human factor statistics in the Space Shuttle Motion Simulator of the Johnson Space Center for one month by multiple teams of astronauts. The results were compiled by NASA Ames Research Center and it was was determined that the system provided a better than expected increase in situational awareness and reduction in crew workload. Even with all of the benefits nf the system, NASA cancelled the project towards the end of the development cycle. A major success of this project was the validation of the hardware architecture and software design. This was significant because the project incorporated new technology and approaches for the development of human rated space software. This paper serves as a case study to document knowledge gained and techniques that can be applied for future space avionics development efforts. The major technological advances were the use of reflective memory concepts for data acquisition and the incorporation of Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) products in a human rated space avionics system. The infused COTS products included a real time operating system, a resident linker and loader, a display generation tool set, and a network data manager. Some of the successful design concepts were the engineering of identical outputs in multiple avionics boxes using an event driven approach and inter-computer communication, a reconfigurable data acquisition engine, the use of a dynamic bus bandwidth allocation algorithm. Other significant experiences captured were the use of prototyping to reduce risk, and the correct balance between Object Oriented and Functional based programming.

Ferguson, Roscoe C.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Lithium Ion Battery (LIB) Charger: Spacesuit Battery Charger Design with 2-Fault Tolerance to Catastrophic Hazards

Charger design that is 2-fault tolerant to catastrophic has been achieved for the Spacesuit Li-ion Battery with key features. Power supply control circuit and 2 microprocessors independently control against overcharge. 3 microprocessor control against undercharge (false positive: Go for EVA) conditions. 2 independent channels provide functional redundancy. Capable of charge balancing cell banks in series. Cell manufacturing and performance uniformity is excellent with both designs. Once a few outliers are removed, LV cells are slightly more uniform than MoliJ cells. If cell balance feature of charger is ever invoked, it will be an indication of a significant degradation issue, not a nominal condition.

Darcy, Eric↗
NASA NTRS1994

Parameter dimension of turbulence-induced phase errors and its effects on estimation in phase diversity

The method of phase diversity has been used in the context of incoherent imaging to estimate jointly an object that is being imaged and phase aberrations induced by atmospheric turbulence. The method requires a parametric model for the phase-aberration function. Typically, the parameters are coefficients to a finite set of basis functions. Care must be taken in selecting a parameterization that properly balances accuracy in the representation of the phase-aberration function with stability in the estimates. It is well known that over parameterization can result in unstable estimates. Thus a certain amount of model mismatch is often desirable. We derive expressions that quantify the bias and variance in object and aberration estimates as a function of parameter dimension.

Thelen, Brian J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Evapotranspiration and runoff from large land areas: Land surface hydrology for atmospheric general circulation models

A land surface hydrology parameterization for use in atmospheric GCM's is presented. The parameterization incorporates subgrid scale variability in topography, soils, soil moisture and precipitation. The framework of the model is the statistical distribution of a topography-soils index, which controls the local water balance fluxes, and is therefore taken to represent the large land area. Spatially variable water balance fluxes are integrated with respect to the topography-soils index to yield our large topography-soils distribution, and interval responses are weighted by the probability of occurrence of the interval. Grid square averaged land surface fluxes result. The model functions independently as a macroscale water balance model. Runoff ratio and evapotranspiration efficiency parameterizations are derived and are shown to depend on the spatial variability of the above mentioned properties and processes, as well as the dynamics of land surface-atmosphere interactions.

Famiglietti, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Applications of Sunphotometry to Aerosol Extinction and Surface Anisotropy

Support cost-sharing of a newly developed sunphotometer in field deployment for aerosol studies. This is a cost-sharing research to deploy a newly developed sun-sky-surface photometer for studying aerosol extinction and surface anisotropy at the ARM SGP, TWP, and NSA-AAO CART sites and in many field campaigns. Atmospheric aerosols affect the radiative energy balance of the Earth, both directly by perturbing the incoming/outgoing radiation fields and indirectly by influencing the properties/processes of clouds and reactive greenhouse gases. The surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) also plays a crucial role in the radiative energy balance, since the BRDF is required to determine (1) the spectral and spectrally-averaged surface albedo, and (2) the top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) angular distribution of radiance field. Therefore, the CART sites provide an excellent, albeit unique, opportunity to collect long-term climatic data in characterizing aerosol properties and various types of surface anisotropy.

Aerosols↗
NASA NTRS2014

Improving Early Adaptation Following Long Duration Spaceflight by Enhancing Vestibular Information

Crewmember adapted to the microgravity state may need to egress the vehicle within a few minutes for safety and operational reasons after g-transitions. The transition from one sensorimotor state to another consists of two main mechanisms: strategic and plastic-adaptive and have been demonstrated in astronauts returning after long duration space flight. Strategic modifications represent "early adaptation" -immediate and transitory changes in control that are employed to deal with short-term changes in the environment. If these modifications are prolonged then plastic-adaptive changes are evoked that modify central nervous system function, automating new behavioral responses. More importantly, this longer term adaptive recovery mechanism was significantly associated with their strategic ability to recover on the first day after return to Earth G. We are developing a method based on stochastic resonance (SR) to enhance information transfer by improving the brain's ability to detect vestibular signals especially when combined with balance training exercises for rapid improvement in functional skill, for standing and mobility. The countermeasure to improve post-flight balance and locomotor disturbances is a stimulus delivery system that is wearable/portable providing low imperceptible levels of white noise based binaural bipolar electrical stimulation of the vestibular system (stochastic vestibular stimulation, SVS). The techniques for improving signal detection using SVS may thus provide additional information to improve such strategic abilities and thus help in significantly reducing the number of days required to recover functional performance to preflight levels after long duration space flight. We have conducted a series of studies to document the efficacy of SVS stimulation on balance/locomotion tasks on unstable surfaces and motion tracking tasks during intra-vestibular system conflicts. In an initial study, we showed that SVS improved overall balance performance while standing on an unstable surface indicating that SVS may be sufficient to provide a comprehensive countermeasure approach for improving postural stability. In a second study, we showed that SVS improved locomotor performance on a treadmill mounted on an oscillating platform indicating that SVS may also be used to maximize locomotor performance during walking in unstable environments. In a third study, SVS was evaluated during an otolith-canal conflict scenario in a variable radius centrifuge at low frequency of oscillation (0.1 Hz) on both eye movements and perceptual responses (using a joystick) to track imposed oscillations. The variable radius centrifuge provides a selective tilting sensation that is detectable only by the otolith organs providing conflicting information from the canal organs of the vestibular system (intra-vestibular conflict). Results show that SVS significantly reduced the timing difference between both the eye movement responses as well as the perceptual tracking responses with respect to the imposed tilt sensations. These results indicate that SVS can improve performance in sensory conflict scenarios like that experienced during space flight. Such a SR countermeasure will act synergistically along with the pre-and in-flight adaptability training protocols providing an integrated, multi-disciplinary countermeasure capable of fulfilling multiple requirements making it a comprehensive and cost effective countermeasure approach to enhance sensorimotor capabilities following long-duration space flight.

Mulavara, Ajitkumar↗
NASA NTRS1993

Optimal feedback control of turbulent channel flow

Feedback control equations were developed and tested for computing wall normal control velocities to control turbulent flow in a channel with the objective of reducing drag. The technique used is the minimization of a 'cost functional' which is constructed to represent some balance of the drag integrated over the wall and the net control effort. A distribution of wall velocities is found which minimizes this cost functional some time shortly in the future based on current observations of the flow near the wall. Preliminary direct numerical simulations of the scheme applied to turbulent channel flow indicates it provides approximately 17 percent drag reduction. The mechanism apparent when the scheme is applied to a simplified flow situation is also discussed.

Bewley, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS2016

Pre-Test Assessment of the Use Envelope of the Normal Force of a Wind Tunnel Strain-Gage Balance

The relationship between the aerodynamic lift force generated by a wind tunnel model, the model weight, and the measured normal force of a strain-gage balance is investigated to better understand the expected use envelope of the normal force during a wind tunnel test. First, the fundamental relationship between normal force, model weight, lift curve slope, model reference area, dynamic pressure, and angle of attack is derived. Then, based on this fundamental relationship, the use envelope of a balance is examined for four typical wind tunnel test cases. The first case looks at the use envelope of the normal force during the test of a light wind tunnel model at high subsonic Mach numbers. The second case examines the use envelope of the normal force during the test of a heavy wind tunnel model in an atmospheric low-speed facility. The third case reviews the use envelope of the normal force during the test of a floor-mounted semi-span model. The fourth case discusses the normal force characteristics during the test of a rotated full-span model. The wind tunnel model's lift-to-weight ratio is introduced as a new parameter that may be used for a quick pre-test assessment of the use envelope of the normal force of a balance. The parameter is derived as a function of the lift coefficient, the dimensionless dynamic pressure, and the dimensionless model weight. Lower and upper bounds of the use envelope of a balance are defined using the model's lift-to-weight ratio. Finally, data from a pressurized wind tunnel is used to illustrate both application and interpretation of the model's lift-to-weight ratio.

strain-gage balance↗
NASA NTRS1986

Nitrogen and dry-matter partitioning in soybean plants during onset of and recovery from nitrogen stress

The study tested the hypothesis that resupplying nitrogen after a period of nitrogen stress leads to restoration of the balance between root and shoot growth and normal functional activity. Nonnodulated soybean plants were grown hydroponically for 14 days with 1.0 mM NO3- in a complete nutrient solution. One set of plants was continued on the complete nutrient solution for 25 days; a second set was given 0.0 mM NO3- for 25 days; and the third set was given 0.0 mM NO3- for 10 days followed by transfer to the complete solution with 1.0 mM NO3- for 15 days. In continuously nitrogen-stressed plants, emergence and expansion of main-stem and branch leaves were severely inhibited as low nitrogen content limited further growth. This was followed by a shift in partitioning of dry matter from the leaves to the roots, resulting in an initial stimulation of root growth and a decreased shoot:root ratio. Reduced nitrogen also was redistributed from the leaves into the stem and roots. When nitrogen stress was relieved, leaf initiation and expansion were renewed. With the restoration of the balance between root and shoot function, the shoot:root ratio and distribution of reduced nitrogen within the plant organs returned to levels similar to those of nonstressed plants.

NASA Discipline Number 61-10↗
NASA NTRS1987

A method of calculating the total flow from a given sea surface topography

Using a simple dynamical model of a wind-driven ocean circulation of the Stommel type, and an analytical basis developed to objectively analyze the sea surface height residuals from an altimeter and, in the process, to determine the total flow instead of just the near surface geostrophic component associated with the given sea surface topography. The method is based on first deriving the solution to the forced problem for a given wind stress required to develop a hypothetical true or perfect data field and to establishing the basis for the objective analysis. The stream function and the surface height field for the forced problem are developed in terms of certain characteristic functions with the same expansion coefficients for both fields. These characteristic functions are simply the solutions for a homogeneous elliptic equation for the stream function and the solutions of an inhomogeneous balance equation for the height field. For the objective analysis, using a sample of randomly selected height values from the true data field, the height field characteristic functions are used to fit the given topography in a least squares sense. The resulting expansion coefficients then permit the synthesis of the total flow field via the stream function characteristic modes and the solution is perfectly well behaved even along the equator. The method of solution is easily adaptable to realistic ocean basis by straight forward numerical methods. The analytical basis of the theory and the results for an ideal rectangular basin on a beta plane are described.

Rao, Desiraju B.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Improving Sensorimotor Adaptation Following Long Duration Space Flight by Enhancing Vestibular Information Transfer

Crewmember adapted to the microgravity state may need to egress the vehicle within a few minutes for safety and operational reasons after gravitational transitions. The transition from one sensorimotor state to another consists of two main mechanisms: strategic and plastic-adaptive and have been demonstrated in astronauts returning after long duration space flight. Strategic modifications represent "early adaptation" - immediate and transitory changes in control that are employed to deal with short-term changes in the environment. If these modifications are prolonged then plastic-adaptive changes are evoked that modify central nervous system function, automating new behavioral responses. More importantly, this longer term adaptive recovery mechanism was significantly associated with their strategic ability to recover on the first day after return to Earth G. We are developing a method based on stochastic resonance to enhance information transfer by improving the brain's ability to detect vestibular signals (Vestibular Stochastic Resonance, VSR) especially when combined with balance training exercises such as sensorimotor adaptability (SA) training for rapid improvement in functional skill, for standing and mobility. This countermeasure to improve detection of vestibular signals is a stimulus delivery system that is wearable/portable providing low imperceptible levels of white noise based binaural bipolar electrical stimulation of the vestibular system (stochastic vestibular stimulation). To determine efficacy of vestibular stimulation on physiological and perceptual responses during otolith-canal conflicts and dynamic perturbations we have conducted a series of studies: We have shown that imperceptible binaural bipolar electrical stimulation of the vestibular system across the mastoids enhances balance performance in the mediolateral (ML) plane while standing on an unstable surface. We have followed up on the previous study showing VSR stimulation improved balance performance in both ML and anteroposterior planes while stimulating in the ML axis only. We have shown the efficacy of VSR stimulations on enhancing physiological and perceptual responses of whole-body orientation during low frequency perturbations (0.1 Hz) on the ocular motor system using a variable radius centrifuge on both physiological (using eye movements) and perceptual responses (using a joystick) to track imposed oscillations. The variable radius centrifuge provides a selective tilting sensation that is detectable only by the otolith organs providing conflicting information from the canal organs of the vestibular system (intra-vestibular conflict). These results indicate that VSR can improve performance in sensory conflict scenarios like that experienced during space flight. We have showed the efficacy of VSR stimulation to improve balance and locomotor control on subjects exposed to continuous, sinusoidal lateral motion of the support surface while walking on a treadmill while viewing perceptually matched linear optic flow. We have shown the safety of short term continuous use of up to 4 hours of VSR stimulation and its efficacy in improving balance and locomotor function in Parkinson's Disease patients. This technique for improving vestibular signal detection may thus provide additional information to improve strategic abilities. We hypothesize that VSR stimulation will act synergistically with SA training to improve adaptability by increased utilization of vestibular information and therefore serve to optimize and personalize the SA countermeasure prescription. This forms the basis of its usefulness both as a training modality and further help in significantly reducing the number of days required to recover functional performance to preflight levels after long duration space flight.

Mulavara, A. P.↗