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At least 145 records · Page 8

Ferry to the moon

Solar-electric propulsion for a fleet of lunar ferry vehicles may allow the creation of a permanent lunar base not long after the turn of the century with greater cost effectiveness than a fleet of chemically powered spacecraft. After delivery by the Space Shuttle to a 300-km earth orbit, the lunar ferry envisioned would travel in spiral trajectory to the moon under the power of 300-kW solar arrays and ten 30-kW Xe-ion engines; each of the solar arrays would be 12 x 61 m long. Each trip between the earth parking orbit and the moon would take about 1 year, so that a fleet of four ferries operating simultaneously could deliver 20 metric tons to a lunar base every 100 days.

Aston, Graeme↗

The wet tropospheric range correction - Product intercomparisons and the simulated effect for tropical Pacific altimeter retrievals

Four data sets used to correct satellite altimetry for the effects of tropospheric water vapor over the tropical Pacific Ocean are evaluated statistically, with a focus on the period 1979-1983. Satellite altimeter measurements are simulated by degrading model sea-level solutions with selected water-vapor data, and seasonal and interannual variations are investigated. The results are presented in extensive contour maps and characterized in detail. The standard deviation between two satellite-based data sets (Nimbus-7 SMMR and TOVS) was found to be 2-4 cm, while both the rms difference between seasonal cycles of the two sets and the difference between the mean fields were 1-2 cm. Larger differences (4-8 cm) were found between these data sets and those based on operational analyses (ECMWF and Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center). The maximum interannual anomaly in the water-vapor correction was 12 cm, for the eastern Pacific at the peak of the 1982-1983 ENSO event.

Zimbelman, Darrell F.↗

An Evaluation of Aircraft Emissions Inventory Methodology by Comparisons with Reported Airline Data

This report provides results of work done to evaluate the calculation methodology used in generating aircraft emissions inventories. Results from the inventory calculation methodology are compared to actual fuel consumption data. Results are also presented that show the sensitivity of calculated emissions to aircraft payload factors. Comparisons of departures made, ground track miles flown and total fuel consumed by selected air carriers were made between U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) Form 41 data reported for 1992 and results of simplified aircraft emissions inventory calculations. These comparisons provide an indication of the magnitude of error that may be present in aircraft emissions inventories. To determine some of the factors responsible for the errors quantified in the DOT Form 41 analysis, a comparative study of in-flight fuel flow data for a specific operator's 747-400 fleet was conducted. Fuel consumption differences between the studied aircraft and the inventory calculation results may be attributable to several factors. Among these are longer flight times, greater actual aircraft weight and performance deterioration effects for the in-service aircraft. Results of a parametric study on the variation in fuel use and NOx emissions as a function of aircraft payload for different aircraft types are also presented.

Daggett, D. L.↗

Commercial Development Plan for the International Space Station

The long term objective is to establish the foundation for a marketplace and stimulate a national economy for space products and services in low-Earth orbit, where both demand and supply are dominated by the private sector. The short term objective is to begin the transition to private investment and offset a share of the public cost for operating the space shuttle fleet and space station through commercial enterprise in open markets.

Source record↗

Commercial Development Plan for the International Space Station

The long term objective of the development plan for the International Space Station (ISS) is to establish the foundation for a marketplace and stimulate a national economy for space products and services in low-Earth orbit, where both demand and supply are dominated by the private sector. The short term objective is to begin the transition to private investment and offset a share of the public cost for operating the space shuttle fleet and space station through commercial enterprise in open markets.

Source record↗

Systems Analysis in Support of the NASA Fuel Cell Upgrade Program for the Space Shuttle Orbiter

In early 1996 as part of NASA's overall efforts to improve space shuttle operations, NASA undertook an internal assessment of the shuttle to identify subsystems in the greatest need of upgrading. The criteria used to rank the candidate subsystems were safety improvement, reduction in acquisition and operational costs, improvement in fleet supportability, improvement in mission effectiveness, implementation risk, and commonality with future NASA missions. On the basis of the preliminary results of the NASA assessment, the Fuel Cell Power Plant (FCP) for the shuttle orbiter was among those subsystems selected for further consideration.

Hoberecht, Mark A.↗

Systems Analysis Approach for the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project

This conference paper describes the current systems analysis approach being implemented for the Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project within the Integrated Systems Research Program under the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. The scope and purpose of these systems studies are introduced followed by a methodology overview. The approach involves both top-down and bottoms-up components to provide NASA s stakeholders with a rationale for the prioritization and tracking of a portfolio of technologies which enable the future fleet of aircraft to operate with a simultaneous reduction of aviation noise, emissions and fuel-burn impacts to our environment. Examples of key current results and relevant decision support conclusions are presented along with a forecast of the planned analyses to follow.

Kimmel, William M.↗

Transformational Spaceport and Range Concept of Operations: A Vision to Transform Ground and Launch Operations

The Transformational Concept of Operations (CONOPS) provides a long-term, sustainable vision for future U.S. space transportation infrastructure and operations. This vision presents an interagency concept, developed cooperatively by the Department of Defense (DoD), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the upgrade, integration, and improved operation of major infrastructure elements of the nation s space access systems. The interagency vision described in the Transformational CONOPS would transform today s space launch infrastructure into a shared system that supports worldwide operations for a variety of users. The system concept is sufficiently flexible and adaptable to support new types of missions for exploration, commercial enterprise, and national security, as well as to endure further into the future when space transportation technology may be sufficiently advanced to enable routine public space travel as part of the global transportation system. The vision for future space transportation operations is based on a system-of-systems architecture that integrates the major elements of the future space transportation system - transportation nodes (spaceports), flight vehicles and payloads, tracking and communications assets, and flight traffic coordination centers - into a transportation network that concurrently accommodates multiple types of mission operators, payloads, and vehicle fleets. This system concept also establishes a common framework for defining a detailed CONOPS for the major elements of the future space transportation system. The resulting set of four CONOPS (see Figure 1 below) describes the common vision for a shared future space transportation system (FSTS) infrastructure from a variety of perspectives.

Source record↗

NASA SMD Airborne Science Capabilities for Development and Testing of New Instruments

The SMD NASA Airborne Science Program operates and maintains a fleet of highly modified aircraft to support instrument development, satellite instrument calibration, data product validation and earth science process studies. This poster will provide an overview of aircraft available to NASA researchers including performance specifications and modifications for instrument support, processes for requesting aircraft time and developing cost estimates for proposals, and policies and procedures required to ensure safety of flight.

Earth Sciences↗

Oxygen Compatibility and Challenge Testing of the PLSS Variable Oxygen Regulator (VOR) for the Advanced EMU

The Variable Oxygen Regulator (VOR), a stepper actuated two-stage mechanical regulator, is being developed for the purpose of serving as the Primary Oxygen Regulator (POR) and Secondary Oxygen Regulator (SOR) within the Advanced EMU PLSS, now referred to as the xEMU and xPLSS. Three prototype designs have been fabricated and tested as part of this development. Building upon the lessons learned from the 35 years of Shuttle/ISS EMU Program operation including the fleet-wide EMU Secondary Oxygen Pack (SOP) contamination failure that occurred in 2000, the VOR is being analyzed, designed, and tested for oxygen compatibility with controlled Non-Volatile Residue (NVR) and a representative worst-case hydro-carbon system contamination event (>100mg/sq ft dodecane). This paper discusses the steps taken in testing of VOR 2.0 with for oxygen compatibility and then discusses follow-on design changes implemented in the VOR 3.0 (3rd prototype) as a result.

Campbell, Colin↗

PEM Fuel Cell MODEL for Conceptual Design of Hydrogen eVTOL Aircraft

A model and software for design and analysis of a Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system are developed for hydrogen eVTOL aircraft. Examples are provided of stacks designed for 80 kWe and 500 kWe net electrical power. Examples are provided of eVTOL designed for 250 and 400 lb payload. The trade-offs included stack characteristics, hydrogen storage characteristics, and aircraft payload and range. The objectives were to identify the key technology drivers of a hydrogen rotorcraft, establish technology targets for a viable aircraft, and recommend research to address the fundamental pre-competitive barriers. The current U.S. infrastructure on hydrogen informed the targets and recommendations. The key conclusion is that the advances made in cell electrochemical power density over the last decade might allow a PEMFC system to meet, or even beat, piston engine powered light-utility rotorcraft. The development must focus on the key drivers of a hydrogen eVTOL. The drivers are ultra-light stack cooling and short-term hydrogen storage. A stack system of net electrical power 100−150 kWe with specific power 1.1 kWe/kg including air, cooling, and electrical subsystems, and a tank storage of 15% weight fraction hydrogen are the minimum targets to meet the performance of a modern piston-engine rotorcraft, with a range of 180 nautical miles, payload of 400 lb, and gross weight of about 1400 lb. This is defined as the objective aircraft. If only one target is met, an aircraft of half the range could be produced, with a 30% greater gross take-off weight. This is defined as an intermediate aircraft. Because definitive conclusions are premature without weights and loads data on a flight-worthy stack system, it is recommended that a fuel cell powered hydrogen eVTOL demonstrator be built and flown. The existing hydrogen infrastructure for cars provide ample opportunity to create a pilot program. About 12 metric tons of retail hydrogen are available for cars every day in California, which is less than 0.05% of the yearly hydrogen production in the U.S.. A hypothetical fleet of 100 aircraft, operating 3 flights a day, would increase the demand by 2.25 tons per day and require 140 MWh of renewable electricity for green hydrogen.

PEM↗

Ideas on the NASA Senior Review and Mission Extension Process

Extended mission budgets fund a significant part of our community, particularly young scientists who in a relatively short time are exposed to a broad range of experiences and opportunities available in space science and other STEM fields. In particular, mission-funded science offers a relatively stable funding stream that enables meaningful mentoring efforts and interactions, including apprenticeships ranging from project management, to mission operations, to data processing and analysis, to hardware and software development, to STEM-related education and outreach. It moreover provides professional contacts that fuel diversity in mission leadership and in the science and technical workforce at-large. Last but not least, it sustains the scientific productivity of NASA’s missions, which constitute major national investments meriting their full exploitation. Budgets cuts, however, are exercising pressure on the science and operations of the extended mission fleet despite being only a small portion of the overall Division budget. The history of Heliophysics has demonstrated that maintaining the operation of missions beyond their prime phase invariably leads to a much deeper knowledge of the original mission science goals, together with new applications often not foreseen during their original design. Their operation as part of the Heliophysics System Observatory (HSO)---a coordinated, 1eliophysics, multipoint observing system of the heliosphere, is a prime example. Some of the first activities undertaken by the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter missions required recreating the larger context of their new observations by using the diversity of HSO mission capabilities. The marginal cost of maintaining this valuable, working science resource, in the form of both continuing high quality data access and expertise, is small compared to the cost of the original missions or of new missions to achieve similar objectives, making the operation of extended missions, the best “science per dollar” investment in Heliophysics. We argue that reducing both extended mission operations and science budgets will have a ripple effect across the community, including reducing employment and training opportunities for young scientists, to lowering the quality/impact of the Heliophysics Systems Observatory. Instead, we suggest that the proposal process for mission extension should be re-examined. We offer several ideas for reducing costs of extended missions toward maintaining science output and streamlining the management process.

A. Vourlidas↗

Lessons Learned from Engineering a Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center

NASA's Small Explorers (SMEX) satellites have surpassed their designed science-lifetimes and their flight operations teams are now facing the challenge of continuing operations with reduced funding. At present, these missions are being reengineered into a fleet-oriented ground system at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). When completed, this ground system will provide command and control of four SMEX missions and will demonstrate fleet automation and control concepts. As a path-finder for future mission consolidation efforts, this ground system will also demonstrate new ground-based technologies that show promise of supporting longer mission lifecycles and simplifying component integration. One of the core technologies being demonstrated in the SMEiX Mission Operations Center is the GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) architecture. The GMSEC architecture uses commercial Message Oriented Middleware with a common messaging standard to realize a higher level of component interoperability, allowing for interchangeable components in ground systems. Moreover, automation technologies utilizing the GMSEC architecture are being evaluated and implemented to provide extended lights-out operations. This mode of operation will provide routine monitoring and control of the heterogeneous spacecraft fleet. The operational concepts being developed will reduce the need for staffed contacts and is seen as a necessity for fleet management. This paper will describe the experiences of the integration team throughout the reengineering effort of the SMEX ground system. Additionally, lessons learned will be presented based on the team s experiences with integrating multiple missions into a fleet-based automated ground system.

Madden, Maureen↗

Virtualized Multi-Mission Operations Center (vMMOC) and its Cloud Services

His presentation will cover, the current and future, technical and organizational opportunities and challenges with virtualizing a multi-mission operations center. The full deployment of Goddard Space Flight Centers (GSFC) Virtualized Multi-Mission Operations Center (vMMOC) is nearly complete. The Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) organizations spacecraft ACE, Fermi, LRO, MMS(4), OSIRIS-REx, SDO, SOHO, Swift, and Wind are in the process of being fully migrated to the vMMOC. The benefits of the vMMOC will be the normalization and the standardization of IT services, mission operations, maintenance, and development as well as ancillary services and policies such as collaboration tools, change management systems, and IT Security. The vMMOC will also provide operational efficiencies regarding hardware, IT domain expertise, training, maintenance and support.The presentation will also cover SSMO's secure Situational Awareness Dashboard in an integrated, fleet centric, cloud based web services fashion. Additionally the SSMO Telemetry as a Service (TaaS) will be covered, which allows authorized users and processes to access telemetry for the entire SSMO fleet, and for the entirety of each spacecrafts history. Both services leverage cloud services in a secure FISMA High and FedRamp environment, and also leverage distributed object stores in order to house and provide the telemetry. The services are also in the process of leveraging the cloud computing services elasticity and horizontal scalability. In the design phase is the Navigation as a Service (NaaS) which will provide a standardized, efficient, and normalized service for the fleet's space flight dynamics operations. Additional future services that may be considered are Ground Segment as a Service (GSaaS), Telemetry and Command as a Service (TCaaS), Flight Software Simulation as a Service, etc.

Ido, Haisam Kassim↗

Lessons Learned from Engineering a Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center

NASA's Small Explorers (SMEX) satellites have surpassed their designed science-lifetimes and their flight operations teams are now facing the challenge of continuing operations with reduced funding. At present, these missions are being re-engineered into a fleet-oriented ground system at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). When completed, this ground system will provide command and control of four SMEX missions and will demonstrate fleet automation and control concepts. As a path-finder for future mission consolidation efforts, this ground system will also demonstrate new ground-based technologies that show promise of supporting longer mission lifecycles and simplifying component integration. One of the core technologies being demonstrated in the SMEX Mission Operations Center is the GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) architecture. The GMSEC architecture uses commercial Message Oriented Middleware with a common messaging standard to realize a higher level of component interoperability, allowing for interchangeable components in ground systems. Moreover, automation technologies utilizing the GMSEC architecture are being evaluated and implemented to provide extended lights-out operations. This mode of operation will provide routine monitoring and control of the heterogeneous spacecraft fleet. The operational concepts being developed will reduce the need for staffed contacts and is seen as a necessity for fleet management. This paper will describe the experiences of the integration team throughout the re-enginering effort of the SMEX ground system. Additionally, lessons learned will be presented based on the team's experiences with integrating multiple missions into a fleet-automated ground system.

Madden, Maureen↗

m:N and Human Autonomy Teaming Concepts for High Density Vertiport Operations

This report focuses on the role of the Fleet Manager (FM) and, in particular, the ways in which automation could support their position as they manage multiple aircraft and operators in a highly dynamic, advanced air mobility (e.g., air taxi) environment, specifically "high-density vertiport" (HDV) regions. Similar to terminal area operations for traditional aviation, operations involving HDVs will need to be highly structured while also remaining resilient to the various contingencies that can happen in that environment. The role of the FM is consistent with an “m:N” architecture, where “m” number of operators cooperatively manage “N” number of vehicles (where “N” is always larger than “m”). In such a paradigm it is critical to provide the operator with the tools and information necessary to manage their fleet safely and navigate the known pitfalls with highly automated, complex systems (e.g., brittleness, insufficient situation awareness, skill degradation). As the field of m:N has expanded as an area of study, a set of higher-level automation concepts have emerged—namely “plays,” “working agreements,” and “human-autonomy teaming” (HAT)—that could support operators in this new role.

human autonomy teaming↗

Utilization of Machine Learning Techniques for Managing the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Constellation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) operates a constellation of ten geosynchronous Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). The TDRS constellation consists of multiple geosynchronous communication relay satellites located around the equator so they can provide continual coverage of any mission in low earth orbit. The TDRS are located primarily in three oceanic regions around the earth. NASA’s White Sands Complex provides the ground communication support for TDRS located over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Another TDRS ground station in Guam supports the TDRS over the Indian Ocean. With these satellites the TDRS network can provide continuous coverage of satellites in low-earth orbit. The NASA Space Network (SN) project office at GSFC manages the constellation of spacecraft. Major customers of the TDRS constellation include, but are not limited to, the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. The TDRS constellation has three generations of satellites and has been active for over 30 years providing reliable communication links between customer satellites and corresponding ground stations. However, one of the major concerns for TDRS, and in any space mission, is to ensure the health and safety of the spacecraft. Generally, engineers use telemetry data to monitor and analyze the performance and state of health of the spacecraft. Telemetry data contains hundreds of parameters that monitor each important component in the spacecraft, which can be utilized to recognize and characterize the behavior of the spacecraft. Each parameter contains considerable information to represent time-dependent properties of each spacecraft subsystem and component. During the entire life of a TDRS spacecraft, thousands of gigabytes of telemetry data are transmitted in real-time from the spacecraft to the ground station at the White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and recorded as historical data sets for engineers to process and analyze the events that occurred on-orbit. These parameters contain the function of multiple spacecraft subsystems, such as the attitude control system (ACS), Thermal, Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS), etc. . The first and second generations have exceeded their required lifetime and NASA is keen to manage these spacecrafts carefully in order to maximize the remaining life using the spacecraft telemetry. The challenge is to know when the risk of losing a spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit exceeds the benefit of continued operations for customer support. In the TDRS fleet, the EPS is the most critical subsystem related to spacecraft operations. Failure of the EPS would strand a spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. Since EPS provides power to the spacecraft, component failures ultimately lead to the inability to support the spacecraft loads and the communications payload. For instance, TDRS-8 has several anomalies in EPS including the Bus Voltage Limiter (BVL) shunt current, solar array loss of circuits, and failed battery cells. Any of these anomalies can cause critical issues to the spacecraft. Therefore, developing a system to analyze and perform early detection of a potential anomaly is an important issue in telemetry data analysis. In recent years, Telemetry Mining (TM) has been proposed to process telemetry data by using Data Mining (DM) techniques such as classification, clustering, regression and anomaly detection. Anomaly detection, also known as outlier detection, has been widely used in many data mining areas such as remote sensing, medical data processing and digital image processing. The goal of anomaly detection is to detect abnormal data, which contains a relatively low probability of occurrence among the entire data set. Early detection of anomalies is one of the most significant issues in managing the spacecraft configuration. If anomalies can be detected early enough, then the redundant resources can be used to extend the life of the operational spacecraft. We present an unsupervised anomaly detection method to process the EPS data extracted from TDRS-8. This is different from traditional analytical methods, which use telemetry data to illustrate behavior and physical meaning of each spacecraft component. TM connects multiple parameters as a vector and then conducts data analysis on this high dimension telemetry vector. This method is looking at the properties of a high dimensional vector that is able to consider the relationship between different parameters in the anomaly detection problem. This kind of method performs much better than the traditional limit checking method. In addition, we propose a new approach of real-time anomaly detection to process telemetry data in real-time, which can then be applied to spacecraft monitoring with high reliability, low cost and high accuracy.

Machine Learning (ML)↗

H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) and the Operations Concept for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Hardware

With the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet imminent in 2011, a new concept of operations will become reality to meet the transportation challenges of the International Space Station (ISS). The planning associated with the retirement of the Space Shuttle has been underway since the announcement in 2004. Since then, several companies and government entities have had to look for innovative low-cost commercial orbital transportation systems to continue to achieve the objectives of ISS delivery requirements. Several options have been assessed and appear ready to meet the large and demanding delivery requirements of the ISS. Options that have been identified that can facilitate the challenge include the Russian Federal Space Agency's Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA's) H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) and the Boeing Delta IV Heavy (DIV-H). The newest of these options is the JAXA's HTV. This paper focuses on the HTV, mission architecture and operations concept for Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) hardware, the associated launch system, and details of the launch operations approach.

Chullen, Cinda↗