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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 1,387 records · Page 77
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Preloaded latching device

A latching device is disclosed which is lever operated sequentially to actuate a set of collet fingers to provide a radial expansion and to actuate a force mechanism to provide a compressive gripping force for attaching first and second devices to one another. The latching device includes a body member having elongated collet fingers which, in a deactuated condition, is insertable through bores on the first and second devices so that gripping terminal portions on the collet fingers are proximate to the end of the bore of the first device while a spring assembly on the body member is located proximate to the outer surface of a second device. A lever is rotatable through 90 deg to move a latching rod to sequentially actuate and expand collet fingers and to actuate the spring assembly by compressing it. During the first 30 deg of movement of the lever, the collet fingers are actuated by the latching rod to provide a radial expansion and during the last 60 deg of movement of the lever, the spring assembly acts as a force mechanism and is actuated to develop a compressive latching force on the devices. The latching rod and lever are connected by a camming mechanism. The amount of spring force in the spring assembly can be adjusted; the body member can be permanently attached by a telescoping assembly to one of the devices; and the structure can be used as a pulling device for removing annular bearings or the like from blind bores.

Wesselski, Clarence J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Passive zero-gravity leg restraint

A passive zero or microgravity leg restraint is described which includes a central support post with a top and a bottom. Extending from the central support post are a calf pad tab, to which calf pad is attached, and a foot pad tab, to which foot tab is attached. Also extending from central support post are knee pads. When the restraint is in use the user's legs are forced between pads by a user imposed scissors action of the legs. The user's body is then supported in a zero or microgravity neutral body posture by the leg restraint. The calf pad has semi-ridig elastic padding material covering structural stiffener. The foot pad has padding material and a structural stiffener. Knee pads have s structural tube stiffener at their core.

Miller, Christopher R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Definition and preliminary design of the LAWS (Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder). Volume 1, phase 2: Executive summary

The objective of phase 1 of the LAWS study was to define and perform a preliminary design for the Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS) instrument. The definition phase consisted of identifying realistic concepts for LAWS and analyzing them in sufficient detail to be able to choose the most promising one for the LAWS application. System and subsystem configurations were then developed for the chosen concept. The concept and subsequent configurations were to be compatible with two prospective platforms--the Japanese Polar Orbiting Platform (JPOP) and as an attached payload on the Space Station Freedom. After a thorough and objective concept selection process, we chose a heterodyne detection Doppler lidar using a CO2 laser transmitter operating at 9.1 microns over a 2.1 micron solid state system. The choice of the CO2 approach over solid-state reflects the advanced state of development of CO2 lasers, its maturity in ground-based systems and the eased subsystem requirements associated with the longer wavelength. The CO2 lidar concept was then analyzed in detail to arrive at a configuration for the instrument and its major subsystems. Our approach throughout the configuration design was to take a systems perspective and trade requirements between subsystems, wherever possible, to arrive at configurations which made maximum use of existing, proven technology or relatively straightforward extensions to existing technology to reduce risk and cost. At the conclusion of Phase 1 we arrived at a configuration for LAWS which meets the performance requirements, yet which is less complex than previous designs of space-based wind sensors (e.g. Windsat), employs lightweight technologies to meet its weight goals (less than 800kg) and sufficiently flexible to offer various operational scenarios with power requirements from about 2 kW to 3 kW. The Phase 1 Final Report was released in March 1990. The 21-month Phase 2 began in October 1990. The requirement to accommodate LAWS as an attached payload on Space Station Freedom was deleted and the orbit altitude for the Japanese polar orbiting platform was changed from 824 km to 705 km. The power allocated to LAWS was reduced to 2.2 kW from 3 kW. Subsequently the availability of a Japanese Polar Orbiting Platform was called into question and LAWS accommodation studies were continued using a conceptual, ATLAS-launched platform supplied by MSFC. In March 1991 a modification to the original contracts was funded to provide a LAWS laser breadboard which could demonstrate all the performance requirements of the LAWS laser. Also funded as part of the same contract extension was a lifetest demonstration using an existing laser at STI. The breadboard extension was an eighteen month effort and the period of performance was therefore extended to September 30, 1992.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1991

Magnetic end effectors for space operations

The Magnetic End Effector (MEE) to be flown as part of the Dexterous End Effector (DEE) flight experiment was designed to operate with the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS). Grappling or attachment of payloads is accomplished magnetically with two fault tolerant operations. The small magnetic grapple plate weighs far less than the standard grapple fixture; allows stacking and close spacing of payloads; and eliminates secondary release mechanisms. In addition to specifics regarding the MEE, the DEE project, Magnetic Attachment Tool (MAT), RMS-Force Torque Sensor (RMS-FTS), and Targeting and Reflective Alignment Concept (TRAC) are discussed.

Monford, Leo↗
NASA NTRS1992

Utilization of Space Station Freedom for technology research

Space Station Freedom presents a unique opportunity for technology developers to conduct research in the space environment. Research can be conducted in the pressurized volume of the Space Station's laboratories or attached to the Space Station truss in the vacuum of space. Technology developers, represented by the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST), will have 12 percent of the available Space Station resources (volume, power, data, crew, etc.) to use for their research. Most technologies can benefit from research on Space Station Freedom and all these technologies are represented in the OAST proposed traffic model. This traffic model consists of experiments that have been proposed by technology developers but not necessarily selected for flight. Experiments to be flown in space will be selected through an Announcement of Opportunity (A.O.) process. The A.O. is expected to be released in August, 1992. Experiments will generally fall into one of the 3 following categories: (1) Individual technology experiments; (2) Instrumented Space Station; and (3) Guest investigator program. The individual technology experiments are those that do not instrument the Space Station nor directly relate to the development of technologies for evolution of Space Station or development of advanced space platforms. The Instrumented Space Station category is similar to the Orbiter Experiments Program and allows the technology developer to instrument subsystems on the Station or develop instrumentation packages that measure products or processes of the Space Station for the advancement of space platform technologies. The guest investigator program allows the user to request data from Space Station or other experiments for independent research. When developing an experiment, a developer should consider all the resources and infrastructure that Space Station Freedom can provide and take advantage of these to the maximum extent possible. Things like environment, accommodations, carriers, and integration should all be taken into account. In developing experiments at Langley Research Center, an iterative approach is proving useful. This approach uses Space Station utilization and subsystem experts to advise and critique experiment designs to take advantage of everything the Space Station has to offer. Also, solid object modeling and animation computer tools are used to fully visualize the experiment and its processes. This process is very useful for attached payloads and allows problems to be detected early in the experiment design phase.

Avery, Don E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Plume effects on the flow around a blunted cone at hypersonic speeds

Tests at M = 8.2 show that a simulated rocket plume at the base of a blunted cone can cause large areas of separated flow, with dramatic effects on the heat transfer rate distribution. The plume was simulated by solid discs of varying sizes or by an annular jet of gas. Flow over the cone without a plume is fully laminar and attached. Using a large disc, the boundary layer is laminar at separation at the test Reynolds number. Transition occurs along the separated shear layer and the boundary layer quickly becomes turbulent. The reduction in heat transfer associated with a laminar separated region is followed by rising values as transition occurs and the heat transfer rates towards the rear of the cone substantially exceed the values obtained without a plume. With the annular jet or a small disc, separation occurs much further aft, so that heat transfer rates at the front of the cone are comparable with those found without a plume. Downstream of separation the shear layer now remains laminar and the heat transfer rates to the surface are significantly lower than the attached flow values.

Atcliffe, P.↗
NASA NTRS1990

An evolutionary construction facility for Space Station Freedom

Viewgraphs and discussion on an evolutionary construction facility for Space Station Freedom are presented. Space Station Freedom (SSF) will support permanent human presence in space and has the potential to enable scientific and exploratory endeavors unequalled in history. With larger and more ambitious spacecraft being developed, it will serve as a site for construction, checkout, and deployment. A facility attached to SSF is required to develop and demonstrate the techniques that will enable on-orbit construction of future large spacecraft. Examples of attached scientific experiments that currently envision in-space construction and that are discussed are: Solar X-ray Pinhole Occulter Facility, Astromag, and X-ray Large Array. Examples of large assemblable spacecraft which are discussed are: Large Deployable Reflector (LDR), Geostationary Platforms, and interplanetary vehicles.

Gates, Richard M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Control-structures Interaction Test of the LACE Satellite

It is clear that additional experience and validation of Control Structures Interaction (CSI) techniques are needed in controlling the structural dynamics of flexible spacecraft. It is also clear that the effects of the space environment such as weightlessness dictate that this be done in space. Unfortunately, orbital tests are difficult to achieve because of the high cost of the test article, the launch into orbit, the instrumentation, and communication systems. The Low-power Atmospheric Compensation Experiment (LACE) Satellite has provided an opportunity to achieve a CSI test in space for very little cost. First, the CSI test rode piggy-back and did not interfere with the primary objective of LACE. Second, the novel technique of using ground based measurements of vibration of the orbiting satellite was employed. The LACE has a heavy central body to which is attached booms with lengths as long as 150 feet. The ground measurements were obtained using laser Doppler radar at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Firepond Facility. The initial tests demonstrated the accuracy of the vibration measurements and obtained structural responses for enhancing the accuracy of the mathematical model of the structural dynamics. Germanium corner-cube retroreflectors attached to the central body and a boom deployed to 18 feet ensured a high strength return signal. Subsequent tests demonstrated the ability of an open-loop damper to attenuate the vibrations of the orbiting satellite. The LACE test results are important in contributing to the validation of a CSI technique, and demonstrating a novel ground measurement technique for orbital tests that is accurate but which has very low cost.

Taylor, Lawrence W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Antares: A low cost modular launch vehicle for the future

The single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle Antares is a revolutionary concept based on identical modular units, enabling the Antares to efficiently launch communications satellites, as well as heavy payloads, into Earth orbit and beyond. The basic unit of the modular system, a single Antares vehicle, is aimed at launching approximately 10,000 kg (22,000 lb) into low Earth orbit (LEO). When coupled with a standard Centaur upper stage, it is capable of placing 4000 kg (8800 lb) into geosynchronous Earth orbit (GE0). The Antares incorporates a reusable engine, the Dual Mixture Ratio Engine (DMRE), as its propulsive device. This enables Antares to compete and excel in the satellite launch market by dramatically reducing launch costs. Inherent in the design is the capability to attach several of these vehicles together to provide heavy lift capability. Any number of these vehicles can be attached depending on the payload and mission requirements. With a seven-vehicle configuration, the Antares' modular concept provides a heavy lift capability of approximately 70,000 kg (154,000 lb) to LEO. This expandability allows for a wide range of payload options, such as large Earth satellites, Space Station Freedom material, and interplanetary spacecraft, and also offers a significant cost savings over a mixed fleet based on different launch vehicles.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

Effect of micron-sized roughness on transition in swept-wing flows

Boundary-layer transition-to-turbulence studies are conducted in the Arizona State University Unsteady Wind Tunnel on a 45-degree swept airfoil. The pressure gradient is designed so that the initial stability characteristics are purely crossflow-dominated. Flow visualization and hot-wire measurements show that the development of the crossflow vortices is influenced by roughness near the attachment-line. Comparisons of transition location are made between a painted surface, a machine-polished surface, and a hand-polished surface. Then, isolated 6 micron roughness elements are placed near the attachment line on the airfoil surface under conditions of the final polish (0.25 micron rms). These elements amplify a centered stationary crossflow vortex and its neighbors, resulting in localized early transition. The diameter, height, and location of these roughness elements are varied in a systematic manner. Spanwise hot-wire measurements are taken behind the roughness element to document the enhanced vortices. These scans are made at several different chord locations to examine vortex growth.

Radeztsky, Ronald H., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Precision attitude control for tethered satellites

Tethered spacecraft are particularly well suited to serve as isolation platforms for space-borne observatories. It has previously been shown that, due to the relatively large tether force, conventional means of performing attitude control for tethered satellites are inefficient for any mission with pointing requirements more stringent than about 1 deg. A particularly effective method of implementing attitude control for tethered satellites is to use the tether tension force to generate control moments by moving the tether attach point relative to the subsatellite center of mass. This paper presents the development of a precision pointing control algorithm for tethered satellites and the simulation of the control system with laboratory hardware. The control algorithm consists of a linear quadratic regulator feedback law and a Kalman filter. The control algorithm has been shown to regulate the vehicle orientation to within 0.60 arcsec rms. This level of precision was achieved only after including a mass center estimator and accurately modeling the effects of the nonlinear attach point motion actuator.

Kline-Schoder, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The Ultra High Resolution XUV Spectroheliograph. III - A modified configuration for a free flying platform

The Ultra-High Resolution XUV Spectroheliograph (UHRXS) is a comprehensive solar observatory capable of studying solar phenomena at soft X-ray, XUV, EUV, and VUV wavelengths with normal incidence imaging multilayer telescopes capable of very high angular resolution (about 0.1 arcsec), and spectrographs able to achieve high spectral resolution. This instrument has been selected by NASA for flight as an attached payload on the Space Station Freedom. Recent developments have made it clear that accommodations for attached payloads on Freedom will not become available during the initial operations of Freedom and may never be available. We have studied the changes that must be made to place the UHRXS instrument on a Free Flying Plafform such as the Delta Launched Explorer Bus. We report on the configuration, performance, and accommodation on a free flying platform of the revised UHRXS concept.

Walker, Arthur B. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1992

High-performance network and channel based storage

In the traditional mainframe-centered view of a computer system, storage devices are coupled to the system through complex hardware subsystems called I/O channels. With the dramatic shift toward workstation-based computing, and its associated client/server model of computation, storage facilities are now found attached to file servers and distributed throughout the network. In this paper, we discuss the underlying technology trends that are leading to high-performance network-based storage, namely advances in networks, storage devices, and I/O controller and server architectures. We review several commercial systems and research prototypes that are leading to a new approach to high-performance computing based on network-attached storage.

Katz, Randy H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Structural considerations in the design of a Mars mission aerobrake

A design for a Mars mission aerobrake with rib-stringer construction coupled with a generic shell using composite materials, which is shown to produce a feasible alternative to propulsive braking, is presented. For the case of a spherical shell subjected to a uniform pressure loading the membrane stress state is isotropic and independent of material properties. The stresses due to bending are significant and dominate only near the attachment points. The addition of meridional stiffeners increased the buckling load and absorbed a large portion of the stresses near the attachment points. The final design employed a high modulus graphite/epoxy composite material. The final weight of the structure when subjected to a 2.0 psi stagnation pressure loading was about 42,000 pounds. This constituted 9 percent of the total spacecraft weight, well below the 15 percent upper limit. It is concluded that aerobraking is a feasible alternative to a propulsive braking system. A rib-stringer shell composition coupled with composite materials is a viable configuration for an aerobrake structure.

Hairr, John↗
NASA NTRS1993

Recent testing of 30 KW hydrogen arcjet thrusters

NASA is conducting efforts to evaluate high-power hydrogen arcjets for orbit transfer propulsion applications. As part of this program, an attempt was made to reexamine both radiatively- and regeneratively-cooled, 30 kW thrusters first demonstrated by the Giannini Scientific Corp. in 1963. The arcjets were configured to force arc attachment upstream of the throat in a subsonic chamber region. While thruster currents were steady, the voltage traces exhibited sawtooth waveforms at frequencies on the order of 20 kHz. Voltage variations per cycle were typically between 100 and 310 volts, indicating major changes in the position of the arc attachment with time. When operated at their respective design points, the performance of both thrusters fell below the values listed in the 1960's development reports. The reason for the discrepancies is not currently understood and further investigations are in progress. However, the recently measured efficiencies were high compared to those obtained with constricted-arc designs at similar conditions, and further arcjet performance optimizations may be possible.

Haag, Thomas W.↗
NASA NTRS1950

An Analysis of Base Pressure at Supersonic Velocities and Comparison with Experiment

In the first part of the investigation an analysis is made of the base pressure in an inviscid fluid, both for two-dimensional and axially-symmetric flow. It is shown that for two-dimensional flow, and also for the flow over a body of revolution with a cylindrical sting attached to the base, there are an infinite number of possible solutions satisfying all necessary boundary conditions at any given free-stream Mach number. For the particular case of a body having no sting attached only one solution is possible in an inviscid flow, but it corresponds to zero base drag. Accordingly, it is concluded that a strictly inviscid-fluid theory cannot be satisfactory for practical applications. Since the exact inviscid-fluid does not adequately describe the conditions of a real fluid flow, an approximate semi-empirical theory for base pressure in a viscous fluid is developed in a second part of the investigation. The semi-empirical theory is based partly on inviscid-flow calculations, and is restricted to airfoils and bodies without boattailing. In this theory an attempt is made to allow for the effects of Mach number, Reynolds number, profile shape, and type of boundary-layer flow. The results of some recent experimental measurements of base pressure in two-dimensional and axially-symmetric flow are presented for purposes of comparison. Some experimental results also are presented concerning the support interference effect of a cylindrical sting, and the interference effect of a reflected bow wave on measurements of base pressure in a supersonic wind tunnel.

Chapman, Dean R↗
NASA NTRS1953

Impingement of water droplets on wedges and diamond airfoils at supersonic speeds

An analytical solution has been obtained for the equations of motion of water droplets impinging on a wedge in a two-dimensional supersonic flow field with a shock wave attached to the wedge. The closed-form solution yields analytical expressions for the equation of the droplet trajectory, the local rate of impingement and the impingement velocity at any point on the wedge surface, and the total rate of impingement. The analytical expressions are utilized to determine the impingement on the forward surfaces of diamond airfoils in supersonic flow fields with attached shock waves. The results presented include the following conditions: droplet diameters from 2 to 100 microns, pressure altitudes from sea level to 30,000 feet, free-stream static temperatures from 420 degrees to 460 degrees R. Also, free-stream Mach numbers from 1.1 to 2.0, semi-apex angles for the wedge from 1.14 degrees to 7.97 degrees, thickness-to-chord ratios for the diamond airfoil from 0.02 to 0.14, chord lengths from 1 to 20 feet, and angles of attack from zero to the inverse tangent of the airfoil thickness-to-chord ratio.

SURFACE CONDITIONS - WING SECTIONS↗
NASA NTRS1954

An Experimental Investigation of Hollow Turbine Blades for Expandable Jet Engines

An experimental investigation was made to determine the feasibility of using hollow turbine blades in engines designed for short service life. Airfoils were fabricated from sheet material and techniques of welding and brazing attachment were investigated. The airfoils were not intended to be cooled. A principal objective was the reduction of strategic material requirements primarily as a function of direct weight reduction. The materials considered were in the density range of 0.28 to 0.31 pound per cubic inch. Three materials were used for airfoils: N-155, Inconel-X and L-605. These were attached to J47 turbine blade bases and operated to destruction at maximum service conditions of turbine speed and temperature. It was found that L-605 airfoils brazed to suitable bases satisfied the requirements for expendable engines. Service life varied from 11 to 40 hours.

Morgan, W C↗