SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
We report on the design philosophy, technology readiness level advancement for space application, laser performance verification, and independent assessment of a single frequency, ultra-low noise master oscillator power amplifier laser transmitter for the LISA mission.
We report low-energy proton and low-energy alpha particle single-event effects (SEE) data on a 32 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) latches and static random access memory (SRAM) that demonstrates the criticality of using low-energy protons for SEE testing of highly-scaled technologies. Low-energy protons produced a significantly higher fraction of multi-bit upsets relative to single-bit upsets when compared to similar alpha particle data. This difference highlights the importance of performing hardness assurance testing with protons that include energy distribution components below 2 megaelectron-volt. The importance of low-energy protons to system-level single-event performance is based on the technology under investigation as well as the target radiation environment.
The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) sponsors and performs fundamental and applied space biomedical research with the mission of leading a world-class, national effort in integrated, critical path space biomedical research that supports NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Strategic Plan. It focuses on the enabling of long-term human presence in, development of, and exploration of space. This will be accomplished by: designing, implementing, and validating effective countermeasures to address the biological and environmental impediments to long-term human space flight; defining the molecular, cellular, organ-level, integrated responses and mechanistic relationships that ultimately determine these impediments, where such activity fosters the development of novel countermeasures; establishing biomedical support technologies to maximize human performance in space, reduce biomedical hazards to an acceptable level, and deliver quality medical care; transferring and disseminating the biomedical advances in knowledge and technology acquired through living and working in space to the benefit of mankind in space and on Earth, including the treatment of patients suffering from gravity- and radiation-related conditions on Earth; and ensuring open involvement of the scientific community, industry, and the public at large in the Institute's activities and fostering a robust collaboration with NASA, particularly through Johnson Space Center.
This report summarizes the activities of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) during FY 2000. The NSBRI is responsible for the development of countermeasures against the deleterious effects of long-duration space flight and performs fundamental and applied space biomedical research directed towards this specific goal. Its mission is to lead a world-class, national effort in integrated, critical path space biomedical research that supports NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Strategic Plan by focusing on the enabling of long-term human presence in, development of, and exploration of space. This is accomplished by: designing, testing and validating effective countermeasures to address the biological and environmental impediments to long-term human space flight; defining the molecular, cellular, organ-level, integrated responses and mechanistic relationships that ultimately determine these impediments, where such activity fosters the development of novel countermeasures; establishing biomedical support technologies to maximize human performance in space, reduce biomedical hazards to an acceptable level, and deliver quality medical care; transferring and disseminating the biomedical advances in knowledge and technology acquired through living and working in space to the general benefit of mankind, including the treatment of patients suffering from gravity- and radiation-related conditions on Earth; and ensuring open involvement of the scientific community, industry and the public at large in the Institute's activities and fostering a robust collaboration with NASA, particularly through NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Attachment:Appendices (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O, and P.).
Understanding the impacts on high-level system-of-systems (SOS) figures of merit (FOMs) due to the design of architectures and technologies is critical in providing decision makers sufficient information in selecting suitable alternatives in an effort to reduce costly financial and schedule overruns. Several techniques exist within academia and industry for performing SOS architecture design and technology evaluation. However, these techniques fail to solve the problem in an integrated fashion when defined at the subsystem-level. In order to understand the impacts on high-level SOS FOMs due to integrated architecture sizing and technology evaluation, a general concept exploration process is utilized to perform a notional 2033 manned Mars fly by study. The notional study draws out observation with regard to specific FOMs traditionally used during the subsystem-level sizing and technology evaluation processes which can result in misleading conclusions regarding the overall SOS design. Furthermore, these observations suggest that selection of FOMs for the subsystems of an architecture should be influenced by the desired objectives of the high-level SOS objectives and FOMs.
Analyze new coil configurations with maturing superconductor technology -Develop vehicle-level concept solutions and identify engineering challenges and risks -Shielding performance analysis Recent advances in superconducting magnet technology and manufacturing have opened the door for re-evaluating active shielding solutions as an alternative to mass prohibitive passive shielding.Publications on static magnetic field environments and its bio-effects were reviewed. Short-term exposure information is available suggesting long term exposure may be okay. Further research likely needed. center dotMagnetic field safety requirements exist for controlled work environments. The following effects have been noted with little noted adverse effects -Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects on ionized fluids (e.g. blood) creating an aortic voltage change -MHD interaction elevates blood pressure (BP) center dot5 Tesla equates to 5% BP elevation -Prosthetic devises and pacemakers are an issue (access limit of 5 gauss).
Recovery of potable water from wastewater is essential for the success of long-duration manned missions to the Moon and Mars. Honeywell International and a team from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) are developing a wastewater processing subsystem that is based on centrifugal vacuum distillation. The wastewater processor, referred to as the Cascade Distillation Subsystem (CDS), utilizes an innovative and efficient multistage thermodynamic process to produce purified water. The rotary centrifugal design of the system also provides gas/liquid phase separation and liquid transport under microgravity conditions. A five-stage subsystem unit has been designed, built, delivered and integrated into the NASA JSC Advanced Water Recovery Systems Development Facility for performance testing. A major test objective of the project is to demonstrate the advancement of the CDS technology from the breadboard level to a subsystem level unit. An initial round of CDS performance testing was completed in fiscal year (FY) 2008. Based on FY08 testing, the system is now in development to support an Exploration Life Support (ELS) Project distillation comparison test expected to begin in early 2009. As part of the project objectives planned for FY09, the system will be reconfigured to support the ELS comparison test. The CDS will then be challenged with a series of human-gene-rated waste streams representative of those anticipated for a lunar outpost. This paper provides a description of the CDS technology, a status of the current project activities, and data on the system s performance to date.
The Human Research Program is instrumental in developing and delivering research findings, health countermeasures, and human systems technologies for spacecraft. :HRP is subdivided into 6 research entities, or Elements. Each Element is charged with providing the Program with knowledge and capabilities to conduct research to address the human health and performance risks as well as advance the readiness levels of technology and countermeasures. Project: An Element may be further subdivided into Projects, which are defined as an integrated set of tasks undertaken to deliver a product or set of products
The next generation of Kevlar® fiber for Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) protection demonstrates the potential to increase orbital debris protection while optimizing the overall weight of the MMOD system and reducing damage to the rear wall of the shield. The DuPont™ CoreMatrix™ Technology process combines numerous woven layers by infusing staple fiber to strengthen the fabric and enables lightweight and flexible protective solutions compared to traditional woven structures. DuPont™ CoreMatrix™ Technology is a step-change in debris protection that allows for the improvement of system-level performance while removing heavier portions of the system. This paper introduces this new technology that will be available from DuPont starting in late 2023 and compares the performance of CoreMatrix™ Technology to legacy solutions. NASA’s Hypervelocity Impact Technology team has conducted hypervelocity impact tests on a subset of DuPont supplied samples that incorporate this latest Kevlar® material. The paper will describe the hypervelocity impact testing parameters, results, and path forward.
The next generation of Kevlar® fiber for Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) protection demonstrates the potential to increase orbital debris protection while optimizing the overall weight of the MMOD system and reducing damage to the rear wall of the shield. The DuPont™ CoreMatrix™ Technology process combines numerous woven layers by infusing staple fiber to strengthen the fabric and enables lightweight and flexible protective solutions compared to traditional woven structures. DuPont™ CoreMatrix™ Technology is a step-change in debris protection that allows for the improvement of system-level performance while removing heavier portions of the system. This paper introduces this new technology that will be available from DuPont starting in early 2024 and compares the performance of CoreMatrix™ Technology to legacy solutions. NASA’s Hypervelocity Impact Technology team has conducted hypervelocity impact tests on a subset of DuPont supplied samples that incorporate this latest Kevlar® material. The paper will describe the hypervelocity impact testing parameters, results, and path forward.
This paper overviews the current program, whose objective is to establish the generic technology base for advanced aircraft I.C. engines of the early 1990's and beyond. The major emphasis of this paper is on development of the past two years. Past studies and ongoing confirmatory experimental efforts are reviewed, which show unexpectly high potential when modern aerospace technologies are applied to inherently compact and balanced I.C. engine configurations. Currently, the program is focussed on two engine concepts the stratified-charge, multi-fuel rotary, and the lightweight two-stroke diesel. A review is given of contracted and planned high performance one-rotor and one-cylinder test engine work addressing several levels of technology. Also reviewed are basic supporting efforts, e.g., the development and experimental validation of computerized airflow and combustion process models, being performed in-house at Lewis Research Center and by university grants.
This paper overviews the current program, whose objective is to establish the generic technology base for advanced aircraft I.C. engines of the early 1990's and beyond. The major emphasis of this paper is on development of the past two years. Past studies and ongoing confirmatory experimental efforts are reviewed, which show unexpectedly high potential when modern aerospace technologies are applied to inherently compact and balanced I.C. engine configurations. Currently, the program is focussed on two engine concepts, the stratified-charge, multi-fuel rotary and the lightweight two-stroke diesel. A review is given of contracted and planned high performance one-rotor and one-cylinder test engine work addressing several levels of technology. Also reviewed are basic supporting efforts, e.g., the development and experimental validation of computerized airflow and combustion process models, being performed in-house at Lewis Research Center and by university grants. Previously announced in STAR as N84-24583
Development of new air revitalization system (ARS) technology can initially be performed in a subscale laboratory environment, but in order to advance the maturity level, the technology must be tested in an end-to-end integrated environment. The Air Revitalization Technology Evaluation Facility (ARTEF) at the NASA Johnson Space Center serves as a ground test bed for evaluating emerging ARS technologies in an environment representative of spacecraft atmospheres. At the center of the ARTEF is a hypobaric chamber which serves as a sealed atmospheric chamber for closed loop testing. A Human Metabolic Simulator (HMS) was custom-built to simulate the consumption of oxygen, and production of carbon dioxide, moisture and heat of up to eight persons. A multitude of gas analyzers and dew point sensors are used to monitor the chamber atmosphere upstream and downstream of a test article. A robust vacuum system is needed to simulate the vacuum of space. A reliable data acquisition and control system is required to connect all the subsystems together. This paper presents the capabilities of the integrated test facility and some of the issues encountered during the integration.
Mackintosh et al. (1978) have reported on the development of a multiple ribbon furnace based on the 'edge defined film fed growth' (EFG) process for the fabrication of silicon ribbon. It has been demonstrated that this technology can meet the requirements for a silicon substrate material to be used in the manufacture of solar panels which can meet requirements regarding a selling price of $0.70/Wp when certain goals in terms of throughput and quality are achieved. These goals for the multiple ribbon technology using 10 cm wide ribbon require simultaneous growth of 12 ribbons by one operator at average speeds of 4 to 4.5 cm/min, and 13% efficient solar cells. A description is presented of the progress made toward achieving these goals. It is concluded that the required performance levels have now been achieved. The separate aspects of technology must now be integrated into a single prototype furnace.
NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, High Speed Project is performing research, development, test and evaluation of flight deck and related technologies to support future low-boom, supersonic configurations (without forward-facing windows) by use of an eXternal Vision System (XVS). The challenge of XVS is to determine a combination of sensor and display technologies which can provide an equivalent level of safety and performance to that provided by forward-facing windows in today's aircraft. This flight test was conducted with the goal of obtaining performance data on see-and-avoid and see-to-follow traffic using a proof-of-concept XVS design in actual flight conditions. Six data collection flights were flown in four traffic scenarios against two different sized participating traffic aircraft. This test utilized a 3x1 array of High Definition (HD) cameras, with a fixed forward field-of-view, mounted on NASA Langley's UC-12 test aircraft. Test scenarios, with participating NASA aircraft serving as traffic, were presented to two evaluation pilots per flight - one using the proof-of-concept (POC) XVS and the other looking out the forward windows. The camera images were presented on the XVS display in the aft cabin with Head-Up Display (HUD)-like flight symbology overlaying the real-time imagery. The test generated XVS performance data, including comparisons to natural vision, and post-run subjective acceptability data were also collected. This paper discusses the flight test activities, its operational challenges, and summarizes the findings to date.
Colloid Micronewton Thrusters (CMNTs) use an electrospray to provide precision spacecraft position and pointing control. They were demonstrated in space for the first time as part of NASA’s Space Technology 7 (ST7) payload hosted by the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) LISA Pathfinder (LPF) technology demonstration mission in January, 2016. CMNTs were the actuator in the disturbance reduction system (DRS) that provided drag-free operation of the LPF spacecraft, which will be necessary for future gravity wave observatories such as ESA’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, currently in Phase A and scheduled for launch in 2034. The CMNT technology met performance requirements operating at 5-30 µN of thrust with 0.1 µN resolution and ≤0.1 µN/ÖHz thrust noise to deliver the required nanometer-level precision spacecraft control measured by the gravitational reference sensor (GRS) in the ESA LISA Technology Package (LTP). The performance of seven of the eight CMNTs in flight was consistent with ground test results, and as a system, all eight thrusters met mission-level performance requirements. The colloid microthruster performance model of thrust and thrust noise as a function of operational parameters (i.e. beam current, voltage, temperature, etc.) was validated in flight over a wide range of conditions. A model and simulation of the thruster control algorithm was developed and validated with flight data to predict thrust noise. This capability is important for future missions because it relates directly to the acceleration noise on the test masses, which provide the gravity wave measurements. The CMNT thruster model data and validation with LISA Pathfinder/ST7-DRS flight experiments are presented in this paper.
Cryogenic fluid management (CFM) technologies are very important for enabling a wider range of missions to utilize space nuclear propulsion (SNP) concepts such as nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP). Technologies for thermal and cryogenic propellant management allow for vehicles to take full advantage of the higher efficiency NTP systems for longer duration human interplanetary and deep space robotic missions. Currently, the CFM Portfolio Project at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing thermal and propellant management technologies needed for SNP. When developing these technologies, it is important to understand the sensitivities of key performance parameters (KPPs) at the system and overall mission level due to the ways the technologies interact with each other, other subsystems, and influence the overall vehicle. The Advanced Concepts Office (ACO) at NASA-MSFC was tasked with building an integrated system model of a human Mars NTP mission to evaluate the impacts and sensitivities of CFM technologies on the overall vehicle and mission. This paper will cover the buildup of the model and highlight major sensitivities and breakpoints encountered, as well as future work in improving the existing models and sensitivities being evaluated.
Cryogenic fluid management (CFM) technologies are very important for enabling a wider range of missions to utilize space nuclear propulsion (SNP) concepts such as nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP). Technologies for thermal and cryogenic propellant management allow for vehicles to take full advantage of the higher efficiency NTP systems for longer duration human interplanetary and deep space robotic missions. Currently, the CFM Portfolio Project at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing thermal and propellant management technologies needed for SNP. When developing these technologies, it is important to understand the sensitivities of key performance parameters (KPPs) at the system and overall mission level due to the ways the technologies interact with each other, other subsystems, and influence the overall vehicle. The Advanced Concepts Office (ACO) at NASA-MSFC was tasked with building an integrated system model of a human Mars NTP mission to evaluate the impacts and sensitivities of CFM technologies on the overall vehicle and mission. This paper will cover the buildup of the model and highlight major sensitivities and breakpoints encountered, as well as future work in improving the existing models and sensitivities being evaluated.