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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Crew interface analysis: Selected articles on space human factors research, 1987 - 1991

As part of the Flight Crew Support Division at NASA, the Crew Interface Analysis Section is dedicated to the study of human factors in the manned space program. It assumes a specialized role that focuses on answering operational questions pertaining to NASA's Space Shuttle and Space Station Freedom Programs. One of the section's key contributions is to provide knowledge and information about human capabilities and limitations that promote optimal spacecraft and habitat design and use to enhance crew safety and productivity. The section provides human factors engineering for the ongoing missions as well as proposed missions that aim to put human settlements on the Moon and Mars. Research providing solutions to operational issues is the primary objective of the Crew Interface Analysis Section. The studies represent such subdisciplines as ergonomics, space habitability, man-computer interaction, and remote operator interaction.

Bagian, Tandi↗
NASA NTRS1972

Shuttle/Agena study. Volume 1: Executive summary

A study to identify and define this significant space shuttle/Agena space tug interfaces is presented. The preliminary design for an Agena space tug including optional improved features is discussed. Performance capability was determined on the basis of Agena mass properties corresponding to the requirements for each of the three base line missions. A work breakdown structure in sufficient detail to assemble a complete set of cost data was developed.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2011

Robonaut 2 - Initial Activities On-Board the ISS

Robonaut 2, or R2, arrived on the International Space Station in February 2011 and is currently undergoing testing in preparation for it to become, initially, an Intra-Vehicular Activity (IVA) tool and then evolve into a system that can perform Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA). After the completion of a series of system level checks to ensure that the robot traveled well on-board the Space Shuttle Atlantis, ground control personnel will remotely control the robot to perform free space tasks that will help characterize the differences between earth and zero-g control. For approximately one year, the fixed base R2 will perform a variety of experiments using a reconfigurable task board that was launched with the robot. While working side-by-side with human astronauts, Robonaut 2 will actuate switches, use standard tools, and manipulate Space Station interfaces, soft goods and cables. The results of these experiments will demonstrate the wide range of tasks a dexterous humanoid can perform in space and they will help refine the methodologies used to control dexterous robots both in space and here on earth. After the trial period that will evaluate R2 while on a fixed stanchion in the US Laboratory module, NASA plans to launch climbing legs that when attached to the current on-orbit R2 upper body will give the robot the ability to traverse through the Space Station and start assisting crew with general IVA maintenance activities. Multiple control modes will be evaluated in this extra-ordinary ISS test environment to prepare the robot for use during EVAs. Ground Controllers will remotely supervise the robot as it executes semi-autonomous scripts for climbing through the Space Station and interacting with IVA interfaces. IVA crew will locally supervise the robot using the same scripts and also teleoperate the robot to simulate scenarios with the robot working alone or as an assistant during space walks.

Diftler, M. A.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Space charge studies on strong hadron cooler energy recovery linac

An Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) based cooler, using Coherent electron Cooling (CeC) is being designed for cooling hadron beams of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The ERL design utilizes highcurrent, high-brightness electron beams with low emittance and a uniform longitudinal distribution for efficient hadron cooling. This is designed to operate in two modes to accommodate cooling requirements for hadron bunches at 100 GeV and 275 GeV, each with an average current of 100 mA and 1 nC bunch charge. With these parameters, the space charge effects become significant in this ERL design due to the low beam energy and high beam current. In this paper, we discuss strategies for including space charge effects in the optics design and implementation of an interface for space charge dominated and non-dominated regions of this ERL lattice.

Accelerator Physics↗
NASA NTRS2015

Kennedy Space Center Timing and Countdown Interface to Kennedy Ground Control Subsystem

Kennedy Ground Control System (KGCS) engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are developing a time-tagging process to enable reconstruction of the events during a launch countdown. Such a process can be useful in the case of anomalies or other situations where it is necessary to know the exact time an event occurred. It is thus critical for the timing information to be accurate. KGCS will synchronize all items with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) obtained from the Timing and Countdown (T&CD) organization. Network Time Protocol (NTP) is the protocol currently in place for synchronizing UTC. However, NTP has a peak error that is too high for today's standards. Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is a newer protocol with a much smaller peak error. The focus of this project has been to implement a PTP solution on the network to increase timing accuracy while introducing and configuring the implementation of a firewall between T&CD and the KGCS network.

Protocol↗
NASA NTRS1982

Space Shuttle and TDRSS telecommunications system interfaces

The telecommunications system interfaces between the spacecraft and the space shuttle, and between the spacecraft and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) are discussed. The payload/shuttle/ground communications network, principle end-to-end link configurations, and requirements for attached and detached payloads are addressed.

Springett, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Adaptation of the Camera Link Interface for Flight-Instrument Applications

COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) hard ware using an industry-standard Camera Link interface is proposed to accomplish the task of designing, building, assembling, and testing electronics for an airborne spectrometer that would be low-cost, but sustain the required data speed and volume. The focal plane electronics were designed to support that hardware standard. Analysis was done to determine how these COTS electronics could be interfaced with space-qualified camera electronics. Interfaces available for spaceflight application do not support the industry standard Camera Link interface, but with careful design, COTS EGSE (electronics ground support equipment), including camera interfaces and camera simulators, can still be used.

Randall, David P.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Antenna systems requirements definition study

A plan to use a 55m wrap rib antenna in a second generation land mobile satellite service application as a specific mission to define a large space structure technology system and its interfaces is described. The system design aims to examine the launch phase of the mission including interface with the space transportation system and the orbital transfer vehicle, and the deployment from the spacecraft of the boom, antennas, and solar panels. Methods for determining the effect of system configuration on the interfaces and of the space environment and operational events on the system and its subsystem interfaces are discussed.

Golden, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS1972

The response of a plate bonded to a randomly vibrating viscoelastic half-space.

The response of an infinite Bernoulli-Euler plate placed on the surface of a randomly vibrating viscoelastic half-space is calculated, allowing for the presence of shear stresses between the plate and the half-space. The shear stresses arise from the condition that the relative motion between the plate and the half-space vanishes at the interface. The three components of displacement of the free surface of the half-space before the plate is added are assumed to be stationary homogeneous random functions of position and time. From the wavenumber-frequency spectra of these displacements the frequency spectra of the three components of displacement of the plate half-space interface are calculated. As an example, the frequency spectrum of the vertical interface displacement is calculated for two assumed forms of the wavenumber spectra of the free-surface displacements.

Remington, P. J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimizing Grain Boundary Structures with LAMMPS Using Evolutionary Algorithms

Grain boundary structure optimization is an important part of materials modeling. Current methods for grain boundary structure optimization involve inefficient, time-consuming processes that do not fully explore the interface parameter space. Evolutionary algorithms have recently been demonstrated to be effective at determining both stable and metastable grain boundary interface structures. In this work, we demonstrate the use of GBOpt, a grain boundary structure optimization software designed to use the Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulation (LAMMPS) software to efficiently determine grain boundary structures. We demonstrate that a only a few manipulations, namely atom insertion, atom removal, and relative grain displacement, are sufficient to explore much of the grain boundary structure parameter space. The efficacy of this approach is demonstrated on an FCC Ni system, and a BCC Fe system. The computational cost is compared against the gamma-surface sampling approach to demonstrate performance improvement.

Evolutionary algorithms↗
NASA NTRS1988

Turnaround operations analysis for OTV. Volume 2: Detailed technical report

The objectives and accomplishments were to adapt and apply the newly created database of Shuttle/Centaur ground operations. Previously defined turnaround operations analyses were to be updated for ground-based OTVs (GBOTVs) and space-based OTVs (SBOTVs), design requirements identified for both OTV and Space Station accommodations hardware, turnaround operations costs estimated, and a technology development plan generated to develop the required capabilities. Technical and programmatic data were provided for NASA pertinent to OTV round and space operations requirements, turnaround operations, task descriptions, timelines and manpower requirements, OTV modular design and booster and Space Station interface requirements. SBOTV accommodations development schedule, cost and turnaround operations requirements, and a technology development plan for ground and space operations and space-based accommodations facilities and support equipment. Significant conclusion are discussed.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2005

Modular Software Interfaces for Revolutionary Flexibility in Space Operations

To make revolutionary improvements in exploration, space systems need to be flexible, realtime reconfigurable, and able to trade data transparently among themselves and mission operations. Onboard operations systems, space assembly coordination and EVA systems in exploration and construction all require real-time modular reconfigurability and data sharing. But NASA's current exploration systems are still largely legacies from hastily-developed, one-off Apollo-era practices. Today's rovers, vehicles, spacesuits, space stations, and instruments are not able to plug-and-play, Lego-like: into different combinations. Point-to-point dominates - individual suit to individual vehicle, individual instrument to rover. All are locally optimized, all unique, each of the data interfaces has been recoded for each possible combination. This will be an operations and maintenance nightmare in the much larger Project Constellation system of systems. This legacy approach does not scale to the hundreds of networked space components needed for space construction and for new, space-based approaches to Earth-Moon operations. By comparison, battlefield information management systems, which are considered critical to military force projection, have long since abandoned a point-to-point approach to systems integration. From a system-of-systems viewpoint, a clean-sheet redesign of the interfaces of all exploration systems is a necessary prerequisite before designing the interfaces of the individual exploration systems. Existing communications and Global Information Grid and middleware technologies are probably sufficient for command and control and information interfaces, with some hardware and time-delay modifications for space environments. NASA's future advanced space operations must also be information and data compatible with aerospace operations and surveillance systems being developed by other US Government agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defense. This paper discusses fundamental system-of-systems infrastructure: approaches and architectures for modular plug-and-play software interfaces for revolutionary improvements in flexibility, modularity, robustness, ease of maintenance, reconfigurability, safety and productivity. Starting with middleware, databases, and mobile communications technologies, our technical challenges will be to apply these ideas to the requirements of constellations of space systems and to implement them initially on prototype space hardware. This is necessary to demonstrate an integrated information sharing architecture and services. It is a bottom-up approach, one that solves the problem of space operations data integration. Exploration demands uniform software mechanisms for application information interchange, and the corresponding uniformly available software services to enhance these mechanisms. We will examine the issues in plug-and-play, real-time-configurable systems, including common definition and management and tracking of data and information among many different space systems. Different field test approaches are discussed, including the use of the International Space Station and terrestrial analog mission operations at field sites.

Glass, Brian↗
NASA NTRS1986

U.S. experience in satellite servicing and linkage to the Space Station era

A history of on-orbit servicing and repair is given with emphasis placed on the Solar Maximum Repair Mission. The experience gained thus far in on-orbit servicing and the design of the Space Station's servicing capabilities impose the following requirements on users: (1) satellites must have a standard grapple for capture and a standard berthing interface, (2) Space Station safety requirements must meet to preclude damage to the Space Station or injury to the EVA crew, (3) sensitive instruments will need to implement remotely controlled protective devices to prevent damage, and (4) satellite thermal systems must be designed to maintain survival temperatures during transfer from orbit to the Space Station servicing facility.

Browning, R. K.↗