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NASA NTRS2012

Risk Assessment Update: Russian Segment

BUMPER-II version 1.95j source code was provided to RSC-E- and Khrunichev at January 2012 MMOD TIM in Moscow. MEMCxP and ORDEM 3.0 environments implemented as external data files. NASA provided a sample ORDEM 3.0 g."key" & "daf" environment file set for demonstration and benchmarking BUMPER -II v1.95j installation at the Jan-12 TIM. ORDEM 3.0 has been completed and is currently in beta testing. NASA will provide a preliminary set of ORDEM 3.0 ".key" & ".daf" environment files for the years 2012 through 2028. Bumper output files produced using the new ORDEM 3.0 data files are intended for internal use only, not for requirements verification. Output files will contain these words ORDEM FILE DESCRIPTION = PRELIMINARY VERSION: not for production. The projectile density term in many BUMPER-II ballistic limit equations will need to be updated. Cube demo scripts and output files delivered at the Jan-12 TIM have been updated for the new ORDEM 3.0 data files. Risk assessment results based on ORDEM 3.0 and MEM will be presented for the Russian Segment (RS) of ISS.

Christiansen, Eric↗
NASA NTRS2012

Reverberant Acoustic Testing and Direct Field Acoustic Testing Acoustic Standing Waves and their Impact on Structural Responses

The aerospace industry has been using two methods of acoustic testing to qualify flight hardware: (1) Reverberant Acoustic Test (RAT), (2) Direct Field Acoustic Test (DFAT). The acoustic field obtained by RAT is generally understood and assumed to be diffuse, expect below Schroeder cut-of frequencies. DFAT method of testing has some distinct advantages over RAT, however the acoustic field characteristics can be strongly affected by test setup such as the speaker layouts, number and location of control microphones and control schemes. In this paper the following are discussed based on DEMO tests performed at APL and JPL: (1) Acoustic wave interference patterns and acoustic standing waves, (2) The structural responses in RAT and DFAT.

vibro-acoustics↗
NASA NTRS2012

Near Real Time Prospecting for Lunar Volatiles: Demonstrating RESOLVE Science in the Field

The Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen & Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) project aims to demonstrate the utility of "in situ resource utilization". In situ resource utilization (ISRU) is a way to rebalance the economics of spaceflight by reducing or eliminating materials that must be brought up from Earth and placed on the surface of the Moon for human use. RESOLVE is developing a rover-borne payload that (1) can locate near subsurface volatiles, (2) excavate and analyze samples of the volatile-bearing regolith, and (3) demonstrate the form, extractability and usefulness of the materials. Such investigations are important not only for ISRU but are also critically important for understanding the scientific nature of these intriguing lunar polar volatile deposits. Temperature models and orbital data suggest near surface volatile concentrations may exist at briefly lit lunar polar locations outside persistently shadowed regions. A lunar rover could be remotely operated at some of these locations for the 4-7 days of expected sunlight at relatively low cost. In July 2012 the RESOLVE project conducted a full-scale field demonstration. In particular, the ability to perform the real-time measurement analysis necessary to search for volatiles and the ability to combine the various measurement techniques to meet the mission measurement and science goals. With help from the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES), a lunar rover prototype (provided by the Canadian Space Agency) was equipped with prospecting instruments (neutron spectrometer and near-infrared spectrometer), subsurface access and sampling tools, including both an auger and coring drill (provided by CSA) and subsurface sample analysis instrumentation, including a sample oven system, the Oxygen and Volatile Extraction Node (OVEN), and Gas Chromatograph / Mass Spectrometer system, the Lunar Advanced Volatile Analysis (LAVA) system. Given the relatively short time period this lunar mission is being designed to, prospecting needs to occur in near real-time. The two prospecting instruments are the neutron and NIR spectrometers. In the field demo a small radioactive source was provided the neutron flux. The NIR spectrometer, which includes its own light source, looks at surface reflectance for signatures of bound H20/0H and general mineralogy. Once a "hot spot" was found by the prospecting instruments, the drill could either auger or core. The auger drill worked to a depth of 50 cm and is monitored with a drill camera and the NIR spectrometer. As cuttings are brought up the NIR spectra is monitored. If a particular location is considered of high -interest then the decision to core could be made. The coring drill (a push-tube) allowed a meter sample to be acquired processed by the OVEN/LAVA sys-tem. This presentation will provide details as how these instruments worked together and how and if the planned measurements and science was obtained.

Elphic, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2010

Regolith Volatile Characterization (RVC) in RESOLVE

Resource investigation in the lunar poles is of importance to the potential impact of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The RESOLVE project developed a payload to investigate the permanently shadowed areas of the lunar poles and demonstrate ISRU technology. As a part of the RESOLVE project, the regolith volatile characterization (RVC) subsystem was designed to examine the release of volatiles from sample cores. The test sample was heated in the reactor to release the volatiles where they were analyzed with gas chromatography. Subsequently, the volatile sample was introduced into the lunar water resource demonstration (LWRD) subsystem where the released hydrogen and water were selectively captured. The objective of the Regolith Volatile Characterization (RVC) subsystem was to heat the crushed core sample and determine the desorption of volatile species of interest. The RVC subsystem encompasses the reactor and the system for volatile analysis. The system was designed to analyze H2, He, CO, CO2, N2, 02, CH4, H2S and H2O. The GC chosen for this work is a Siemens MicroSAM process GC with 3 columns and 8 TCD detectors. Neon was chosen as the carrier gas to enhance the analysis of hydrogen and helium.The limit of detection for the gases is approx.1000ppm for H2, CO. CO2 , N2, O2 and H2 S. The limit of detection for CH4 is approx.4000ppm and the water limit of detection is -10000 ppm with a sample analysis time of 2-3 minutes. These values (with the exception of water and H2S) were determined by dilution of a six gas mixture from Scott Gas (5% CO2, CO, O2, N2, 4% CH4 and H2) using mass flow controllers (MFC5). Water was calibrated at low levels using an in house relative humidity (RH) generator. H 2S and high concentrations of H2 were calibrated by diluting a pure stream of gas with MFCs. Higher concentrations of N2 and 02 were calibrated using Air again diluting with MFCs. There were three modification goals for the GC in EBU2 that would allow this process GC to be used in the field demo for RESOLVE. The first modification was to decrease the weight associated with the GC, this included eliminating the explosion proof case (Figure 1) and replacing it with a lightweight case as well as using an on board COPV tank for the neon carrier gas. The next goal was to add a second oven for the molecular sieve column to allow for dual temperature control during GC operation; the separation of hydrogen and helium is optimum at lower temperatures while the water analysis required higher temperatures creating a competing design requirement. The second oven also allows a lower limit of detection for water quantification and avoids the possibility of water condensing in the GC which could ruin the column characteristics. The final goal was to modify the column arrangement to optimize the system for our specific application. Figure 2 shows the internal details of the module optimized optimized for our field application. The modifications and performance of the gas analysis system will be discussed in detail.

Captain, Janine↗
NASA NTRS2013

Education Office Application Design and Development

The content of this project focuses on designing and implementing a new prototype website for the Kennedy Intern Tracking System (KITS). The goal of the new website is to allow the user to search for interns based on several different categories and fields. In hence, making it easier to find a count of interns matching a set of criteria. The KSC office of education is the primary users of KITS, their job is to recruit interns year-round. As a secondary goal, each user will be able to generate a report of their searches onto a portable document format (PDF) me. The results of each search will be set to a limited amount per page. This site will be used for Kennedy Space Center internal purposes only. After the implementations are done, a visual walk through using screen shots will be used to guide the users through all of the different scenarios that are likely to occur when the users are navigating through the site. In addition, a demo of the site will be presented to the KSC Office of Education. JavaScript and JQuery are the languages that will focus on the functionality of the implementation. Hyper Text Markup Language will be used to form the foundation for the body structure of the website. Ruby will be the programming language used to elevate the prototype to a dynamic website and enable the programmer to finish with in an efficient time frame. Cascading Style Sheet will be the language used for the design and styling purposes. Rails is the framework that the new website will be built upon. By default, the database will be managed by Sequel Lite (SQLite). All users will need to be granted special privileges in order to use the site.

Johnson, Jamie E.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Thermal Performance of a Cryogenic Fluid Management Cubesat Mission

Development for an in-space demonstration of a CubeS at as a Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) test bed is currently underway. The favorable economics of CubeSats make them appealing for technology development activity. While their size limits testing to smaller scales, many of the regimes relevant to CFM can still be achieved. The first demo flight of this concept, CryoCube®-1, will focus on oxygen liquefaction and low-gravity level sensing using Reduced Gravity CryoTracker®. An extensive thermal modeling effort has been underway to both demonstrate concept feasibility and drive the prototype design. The satellite will utilize both a sun- and earth-shield to passively cool its experimental tank below 115 K. An on-board gas generator will create high pressure gaseous oxygen, which will be throttled into a bottle in the experimental node and condensed. The resulting liquid will be used to perform various experiments related to level sensing. Modeling efforts have focused on the spacecraft thermal performance and its effects on condensation in the experimental node. Parametric analyses for both optimal and suboptimal conditions have been considered and are presented herein.

Berg, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Post-Flight Evaluation of PICA and PICA-X - Comparisons of the Stardust SRC and Space-X Dragon 1 Forebody Heatshield Materials

Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) was developed at NASA Ames Research Center. As a thermal protection material, PICA has the advantages of being able to withstand high heat fluxes with a relatively low density. This ablative material was used as the forebody heat shield material for the Stardust sample return capsule, which re-entered the Earths atmosphere in 2006. Based on PICA, SpaceX developed a variant, PICA-X, and used it as the heat shield material for its Dragon spacecraft, which successfully orbited the Earth and re-entered the atmosphere during the COTS Demo Flight 1 in 2010. Post-flight analysis was previously performed on the Stardust PICA heat shield material. Similarly, a near-stagnation core was obtained from the post-flight Dragon 1 heat shield, which was retrieved from the Pacific Ocean. Materials testing and analyses were performed on the core to evaluate its ablation performance and post-flight properties. Comparisons between PICA and PICA-X are made where applicable. Stardust and Dragon offer rare opportunities to evaluate materials post-flight - this data is beneficial in understanding material performance and also improves modeling capabilities.

PICA-X↗
NASA NTRS2009

Disruption Tolerant Networking Flight Validation Experiment on NASA's EPOXI Mission

In October and November of 2008, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory installed and tested essential elements of Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) technology on the Deep Impact spacecraft. This experiment, called Deep Impact Network Experiment (DINET), was performed in close cooperation with the EPOXI project which has responsibility for the spacecraft. During DINET some 300 images were transmitted from the JPL nodes to the spacecraft. Then they were automatically forwarded from the spacecraft back to the JPL nodes, exercising DTN's bundle origination, transmission, acquisition, dynamic route computation, congestion control, prioritization, custody transfer, and automatic retransmission procedures, both on the spacecraft and on the ground, over a period of 27 days. All transmitted bundles were successfully received, without corruption. The DINET experiment demonstrated DTN readiness for operational use in space missions. This activity was part of a larger NASA space DTN development program to mature DTN to flight readiness for a wide variety of mission types by the end of 2011. This paper describes the DTN protocols, the flight demo implementation, validation metrics which were created for the experiment, and validation results.

DTN↗
NASA NTRS2016

Space Radiation Program Element Tissue Sharing Forum

Over the years, a large number of animal experiments have been conducted at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory and other facilities under the support of the NASA Space Radiation Program Element (SRPE). Studies using rodents and other animal species to address the space radiation risks will remain a significant portion of the research portfolio of the Element. In order to maximize scientific return of the animal studies, the SRPE has recently released the Space Radiation Tissue Sharing Forum. The Forum provides access to an inventory of investigator-stored tissue samples and enables both NASA SRPE members and NASA-funded investigators to exchange information regarding stored and future radiobiological tissues available for sharing. Registered users may review online data of available tissues, inquire about tissues posted, or request tissues for an upcoming study using an online form. Investigators who have upcoming sacrifices are also encouraged to post the availability of samples using the discussion forum. A brief demo of the forum will be given during the presentation

Wu, H.↗
NASA NTRS2016

3-D Flash Lidar Performance in Flight Testing on the Morpheus Autonomous, Rocket-Propelled Lander to a Lunar-Like Hazard Field

For the first time, a 3-D imaging Flash Lidar instrument has been used in flight to scan a lunar-like hazard field, build a 3-D Digital Elevation Map (DEM), identify a safe landing site, and, in concert with an experimental Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) system, help to guide the Morpheus autonomous, rocket-propelled, free-flying lander to that safe site on the hazard field. The flight tests served as the TRL 6 demo of the Autonomous Precision Landing and Hazard Detection and Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) system and included launch from NASA-Kennedy, a lunar-like descent trajectory from an altitude of 250m, and landing on a lunar-like hazard field of rocks, craters, hazardous slopes, and safe sites 400m down-range. The ALHAT project developed a system capable of enabling safe, precise crewed or robotic landings in challenging terrain on planetary bodies under any ambient lighting conditions. The Flash Lidar is a second generation, compact, real-time, air-cooled instrument. Based upon extensive on-ground characterization at flight ranges, the Flash Lidar was shown to be capable of imaging hazards from a slant range of 1 km with an 8 cm range precision and a range accuracy better than 35 cm, both at 1-delta. The Flash Lidar identified landing hazards as small as 30 cm from the maximum slant range which Morpheus could achieve (450 m); however, under certain wind conditions it was susceptible to scintillation arising from air heated by the rocket engine and to pre-triggering on a dust cloud created during launch and transported down-range by wind.

Roback, Vincent E.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Next Generation Flight Displays Using HTML5

The Human Integrated Vehicles and Environments (HIVE) lab at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is focused on bringing together inter-disciplinary talent to design and integrate innovative human interface technologies for next generation manned spacecraft. As part of this objective, my summer internship project centered on an ongoing investigation in to building flight displays using the HTML5 standard. Specifically, the goals of my project were to build and demo "flight-like" crew and wearable displays as well as create a webserver for live systems being developed by the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program. In parallel to my project, a LabVIEW application, called a display server, was created by the HIVE that uses an XTCE (XML (Extensible Markup Language) Telemetry and Command Exchange) parser and CCSDS (Consultative Committee for Space Data System) space packet decoder to translate telemetry items sent by the CFS (Core Flight Software) over User Datagram Protocol (UDP). It was the webserver's job to receive these UDP messages and send them to the displays. To accomplish this functionality, I utilized Node.js and the accompanying Express framework. On the display side, I was responsible for creating the power system (AMPS) displays. I did this by using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript to create web pages that could update and change dynamically based on the data they received from the webserver. At this point, I have not started on the commanding, being able to send back to the CFS, portion of the displays but hope to have this functionality working by the completion of my internship. I also created a way to test the webserver's functionality without the display server by making a JavaScript application that read in a comma-separate values (CSV) file and converted it to XML which was then sent over UDP. One of the major requirements of my project was to build everything using as little preexisting code as possible, which I accomplished by only using a handful of JavaScript libraries. As a side project, I created a model of the HIVE lab and Building 29 using SketchUp. I obtained the floorplans of the building from the JSC Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which were computer-aided design (CAD) files, and imported them into SketchUp. I then took those floorplans and created a 3D model of the building from them. Working in conjunction with the Hybrid Reality lab in Building 32, the SketchUp model was imported into Unreal Engine for use with the HTC Vive. Using the Vive, I was able to interact with the model I created in virtual reality (VR). The purpose of this side project was to be able to visualize potential lab layouts and mockup designs as they are in development in order to finalize design decisions. Pending approval, the model that I created will be used in the Build-As-You-Test: Can Hybrid Reality Improve the SE/HSI Design Process project in the fall. Getting the opportunity to work at NASA has been one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Over the course of my internship, I improved my programming and web development abilities substantially. I will take all the skills and experiences I have had while at NASA back to school with me in the fall and hope to pursue a career in the aerospace industry after graduating in the spring.

Greenwood, Brian↗
NASA NTRS2016

Visual Odometry for Autonomous Deep-Space Navigation Project

Autonomous rendezvous and docking (AR&D) is a critical need for manned spaceflight, especially in deep space where communication delays essentially leave crews on their own for critical operations like docking. Previously developed AR&D sensors have been large, heavy, power-hungry, and may still require further development (e.g. Flash LiDAR). Other approaches to vision-based navigation are not computationally efficient enough to operate quickly on slower, flight-like computers. The key technical challenge for visual odometry is to adapt it from the current terrestrial applications it was designed for to function in the harsh lighting conditions of space. This effort leveraged Draper Laboratory’s considerable prior development and expertise, benefitting both parties. The algorithm Draper has created is unique from other pose estimation efforts as it has a comparatively small computational footprint (suitable for use onboard a spacecraft, unlike alternatives) and potentially offers accuracy and precision needed for docking. This presents a solution to the AR&D problem that only requires a camera, which is much smaller, lighter, and requires far less power than competing AR&D sensors. We have demonstrated the algorithm’s performance and ability to process ‘flight-like’ imagery formats with a ‘flight-like’ trajectory, positioning ourselves to easily process flight data from the upcoming ‘ISS Selfie’ activity and then compare the algorithm’s quantified performance to the simulated imagery. This will bring visual odometry beyond TRL 5, proving its readiness to be demonstrated as part of an integrated system.Once beyond TRL 5, visual odometry will be poised to be demonstrated as part of a system in an in-space demo where relative pose is critical, like Orion AR&D, ISS robotic operations, asteroid proximity operations, and more.

Robinson, Shane↗
NASA NTRS2016

Visual Odometry for Autonomous Deep-Space Navigation Project

Autonomous rendezvous and docking (AR&D) is a critical need for manned spaceflight, especially in deep space where communication delays essentially leave crews on their own for critical operations like docking. Previously developed AR&D sensors have been large, heavy, power-hungry, and may still require further development (e.g. Flash LiDAR). Other approaches to vision-based navigation are not computationally efficient enough to operate quickly on slower, flight-like computers. The key technical challenge for visual odometry is to adapt it from the current terrestrial applications it was designed for to function in the harsh lighting conditions of space. This effort leveraged Draper Laboratory's considerable prior development and expertise, benefitting both parties. The algorithm Draper has created is unique from other pose estimation efforts as it has a comparatively small computational footprint (suitable for use onboard a spacecraft, unlike alternatives) and potentially offers accuracy and precision needed for docking. This presents a solution to the AR&D problem that only requires a camera, which is much smaller, lighter, and requires far less power than competing AR&D sensors. We have demonstrated the algorithm's performance and ability to process 'flight-like' imagery formats with a 'flight-like' trajectory, positioning ourselves to easily process flight data from the upcoming 'ISS Selfie' activity and then compare the algorithm's quantified performance to the simulated imagery. This will bring visual odometry beyond TRL 5, proving its readiness to be demonstrated as part of an integrated system. Once beyond TRL 5, visual odometry will be poised to be demonstrated as part of a system in an in-space demo where relative pose is critical, like Orion AR&D, ISS robotic operations, asteroid proximity operations, and more.

Robinson, Shane↗
NASA NTRS2016

3D Printing in Zero G Technology Demonstration Mission: Summary of On-Orbit Operations, Material Testing, and Future Work

Human space exploration to date has been limited to low Earth orbit and the moon. The International Space Station (ISS), an orbiting laboratory 200 miles above the earth, provides a unique and incredible opportunity for researchers to prove out the technologies that will enable humans to safely live and work in space for longer periods of time and venture farther into the solar system. The ability to manufacture parts in-space rather than launch them from earth represents a fundamental shift in the current risk and logistics paradigm for human spaceflight. In particularly, additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) techniques can potentially be deployed in the space environment to enhance crew safety (by providing an on-demand part replacement capability) and decrease launch mass by reducing the number of spare components that must be launched for missions where cargo resupply is not a near-term option. In September 2014, NASA launched the 3D Printing in Zero G technology demonstration mission to the ISS to explore the potential of additive manufacturing for in-space applications and demonstrate the capability to manufacture parts and tools on-orbit. The printer for this mission was designed and operated by the company Made In Space under a NASA SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) phase III contract. The overarching objectives of the 3D print mission were to use ISS as a testbed to further maturation of enhancing technologies needed for long duration human exploration missions, introduce new materials and methods to fabricate structure in space, enable cost-effective manufacturing for structures and mechanisms made in low-unit production, and enable physical components to be manufactured in space on long duration missions if necessary. The 3D print unit for fused deposition modeling (FDM) of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) was integrated into the ISS Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) in November 2014 and phase I printing operations took place from November through December of that year. Phase I flight operations yielded 14 unique parts (21 total specimens) that could be directly compared against ground-based prints of identical geometry manufactured using the printer prior to its launch to ISS. The 3DP unit functioned safely and produced specimens necessary to advance the understanding of the critical design and operational parameters for the FDM process as affected by the microgravity environment. From the standpoint of operations, 3DP demonstrated the ability to remove parts from the build-tray on-orbit, teleoperate the printer from the ground, perform critical maintenance functions within defined human factors limits, produce a functional tool that could be evaluated for form/fit/function, and uplink a new part file from the ground and produce it on the printer. The flight parts arrived at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama in April 2015, where they underwent months of testing in the materials and processes laboratory. Ground and flight prints completed the following phases of testing: photographic/visual inspection, mass and density evaluation, structured light scanning, XRay and CT, mechanical testing, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and chemical analysis. This presentation will discuss the results of this testing as well as phase II operations for the printer, which took place in June and July of 2016. Lessons learned from the tech demo and their impacts on the design and development of the second generation 3D printer for ISS, the Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) by Made In Space will also be presented. In addition, progress in other elements of NASA's In Space Manufacturing (ISM) initiative such as the on-demand ISM utilization catalog, in-space Recycler ISS Technology Demonstration development, launch packaging recycling, in-space printable electronics, development of higher strength polymeric materials for 3D printing and Additive Construction by Mobile Emplacement (ACME) will also be addressed.

Prater, Tracie↗
NASA NTRS2016

AIAA Aviation UAS DAA Demonstration-Mini HITL Week 2 Stats

The UAS-NAS Project demo will showcase recent research efforts to ensure the interoperability between proposed UAS detect and avoid (DAA) human machine interface requirements (developed within RTCA SC-228) and existing collision avoidance displays. Attendees will be able to view the current state of the art of the DAA pilot traffic, alerting and guidance displays integrated with Traffic advisory and Collision Avoidance (TCAS) II in the UAS-NAS Project's research UAS ground control station (developed in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory). In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the research UAS ground control station and "fly" encounters, using the DAA and TCAS II displays to avoid simulated aircraft. The display of the advisories will be hosted on a laptop with an external 30" monitor, running the Vigilant Spririt system. DAA advisories will be generated by the JADEM software tool, connected to the system via the LVC Gateway. A repeater of the primary flight display will be shown on a 55" tv/monitor mounted on a stand at the back of the booth to show the pilot interaction to the passersby.

UAS↗
NASA NTRS2016

Operation and Development Status of the Spacecraft Fire Experiments (Saffire)

Since 2012, a series of Spacecraft Fire Experiments (Saffire) have been under development by the Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (SFS Demo) project, funded by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division. The overall objective of this project is to reduce the uncertainty and risk associated with the design of spacecraft fire safety systems for NASA's exploration missions. The approach to achieving this goal has been to define, develop, and conduct experiments that address gaps in spacecraft fire safety knowledge and capabilities identified by NASA's Fire Safety System Maturation Team. The Spacecraft Fire Experiments (Saffire-I, -II, and -III) are material flammability tests at length scales that are realistic for a spacecraft fire in low-gravity. The specific objectives of these three experiments are to (1) determine how rapidly a large scale fire grows in low-gravity and (2) investigate the low-g flammability limits compared to those obtained in NASA's normal gravity material flammability screening test. The experiments will be conducted in Orbital ATK's Cygnus vehicle after it has unberthed from the International Space Station. The tests will be fully automated with the data downlinked at the conclusion of the test before the Cygnus vehicle reenters the atmosphere. This paper discusses the status of the Saffire-I, II, and III experiments followed by a review of the fire safety technology gaps that are driving the development of objectives for the next series of experiments, Saffire-IV, V, and VI.

Fire Safety↗
NASA NTRS2016

Overview of Proposed ISRU Technology Development

ISRU involves any hardware or operation that harnesses and utilizes in-situ resources (natural and discarded) to create products and services for robotic and human exploration: Assessment of physical, mineral chemical, and volatile water resources, terrain, geology, and environment (orbital and local). Production of replacement parts, complex products, machines, and integrated systems from feedstock derived from one or more processed resources. Civil engineering, infrastructure emplacement, and structure construction using materials produced from in situ resources. Radiation shields, landing pads, roads, berms, habitats, etc. Generation and storage of electrical, thermal, and chemical energy with in situ derived materials. Solar arrays, thermal wadis, chemical batteries, etc. ISRU is a disruptive capability: Enables more affordable exploration than todays paradigm. Allows more sustainable architectures to be developed. Understand the ripple effect in the other Exploration Elements: MAV: propellant selection, higher rendezvous altitude (higher DV capable with ISRU propellants). EDL: significantly reduces required landed mass. Life Support: reduce amount of ECLSS closure, reduce trash mass carried through propulsive maneuvers. Power: ISRU drives electrical requirements, reactant and regeneration for fuel cells for landers, rovers, and habitat backup. Every Exploration Element except ISRU has some flight heritage (power, propulsion, habitats, landers, life support, etc.) ISRU will require a flight demonstration mission on Mars before it will be included in the critical path. Mission needs to be concluded at least 10 years before first human landed mission to ensure lessons learned can be incorporated into final design. ISRU Formulation team has generated a (still incomplete) list of over 75 technical questions on more than 40 components and subsystems that need to be answered before the right ISRU system will be ready for this flight demo.

Mars exploration↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Spacecraft Fire Experiment (Saffire) - Objectives, Development and Status

Since 2012, the Spacecraft Fire Experiment (Saffire) has been under development by the Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (SFS Demo) project that is funded by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The overall objective of this project is to reduce the uncertainty and risk associated with the design of spacecraft fire safety systems for NASA's exploration missions. This is accomplished by defining, developing, and conducting experiments that address gaps in spacecraft fire safety knowledge and capabilities identified by NASA's Fire Safety System Maturation Team. This paper describes the three Spacecraft Fire Experiments (Saffire-I, -II, and -III) that were developed at NASA-GRC and that will conduct a series of material flammability tests in low-gravity and at length scales that are realistic for a spacecraft fire. The experiments will be conducted in Orbital ATK's Cygnus vehicle after it has unberthed from the International Space Station. The tests will be fully automated with the data downlinked at the conclusion of the test and before the Cygnus vehicle reenters the atmosphere. The objectives of these experiments are to (1) determine how rapidly a large scale fire grows in low-gravity and (2) investigate the low-g flammability limits compared to those obtained in NASA's normal gravity material flammability screening test. The hardware for these experiments has been completed and is awaiting their respective launches, all planned for 2016. This paper will review the objectives of these experiments and how they address several of the knowledge gaps for NASA's exploration missions. The hardware development will be discussed including several novel approaches that were taken for testing and evaluation of these series payloads. The status of the missions and operational status will also be presented.

combustion↗