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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 1,441 records · Page 80
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2002

Quick Fix for Managing Risks

Under a Phase II SBIR contract, Kennedy and Lumina Decision Systems, Inc., jointly developed the Schedule and Cost Risk Analysis Modeling (SCRAM) system, based on a version of Lumina's flagship software product, Analytica(R). Acclaimed as "the best single decision-analysis program yet produced" by MacWorld magazine, Analytica is a "visual" tool used in decision-making environments worldwide to build, revise, and present business models, minus the time-consuming difficulty commonly associated with spreadsheets. With Analytica as their platform, Kennedy and Lumina created the SCRAM system in response to NASA's need to identify the importance of major delays in Shuttle ground processing, a critical function in project management and process improvement. As part of the SCRAM development project, Lumina designed a version of Analytica called the Analytica Design Engine (ADE) that can be easily incorporated into larger software systems. ADE was commercialized and utilized in many other developments, including web-based decision support.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

The heuristic and motivational value of video reinforcement

Four rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were tested on joystick-based computer tasks in which they could choose to be reinforced either with pellets-only or with pellets + video. A variety of videotapes were used to reinforce task performance. The monkeys significantly preferred to be rewarded with a pellet and 10 s of a blank screen than a pellet plus 10 s of videotape. When they did choose to see videotaped images, however, they were significantly more likely to view video of themselves than video of their roommate or of unfamiliar conspecifics. These data support earlier findings of individual differences in preference for video reinforcement, and have clear implications for the study of face-recognition and self-recognition by nonhuman primates.

NASA Discipline Space Human Factors↗
NASA NTRS2000

New Technology-Large-Area Three- Dimensional Surface Profiling Using Only Focused Air-Coupled Ultrasound-Given 1999 R&D 100 Award

Surface topography, which significantly affects the performance of many industrial components, is normally measured with diamond-tip profilometry over small areas or with optical scattering methods over larger areas. To develop air-coupled surface profilometry, the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field initiated a Space Act Agreement with Sonix, Inc., through two Glenn programs, the Advanced High Temperature Engine Materials Program (HITEMP) and COMMTECH. The work resulted in quantitative surface topography profiles obtained using only high-frequency, focused ultrasonic pulses in air. The method is nondestructive, noninvasive, and noncontact, and it does not require light-reflective surfaces. Air surface profiling may be desirable when diamond-tip or laserbased methods are impractical, such as over large areas, when a significant depth range is required, or for curved surfaces. When the configuration is optimized, the method is reasonably rapid and all the quantitative analysis facilities are online, including two- and three-dimensional visualization, extreme value filtering (for faulty data), and leveling.

Roth, Don J.↗
NASA NTRS2005

A model to assess the Mars Telecommunications Network relay robustness

The relatively long mission durations and compatible radio protocols of current and projected Mars orbiters have enabled the gradual development of a heterogeneous constellation providing proximity communication services for surface assets. The current and forecasted capability of this evolving network has reached the point that designers of future surface missions consider complete dependence on it. Such designers, along with those architecting network requirements, have a need to understand the robustness of projected communication service. A model has been created to identify the robustness of the Mars Network as a function of surface location and time. Due to the decade-plus time horizon considered, the network will evolve, with emerging productive nodes and nodes that cease or fail to contribute. The model is a flexible framework to holistically process node information into measures of capability robustness that can be visualized for maximum understanding. Outputs from JPL's Telecom Orbit Analysis Simulation Tool (TOAST) provide global telecom performance parameters for current and projected orbiters. Probabilistic estimates of orbiter fuel life are derived from orbit keeping burn rates, forecasted maneuver tasking, and anomaly resolution budgets. Orbiter reliability is estimated probabilistically. A flexible scheduling framework accommodates the projected mission queue as well as potential alterations.

Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO)↗
NASA NTRS1997

Video display engineering and optimization system

A video display engineering and optimization CAD simulation system for designing a LCD display integrates models of a display device circuit, electro-optics, surface geometry, and physiological optics to model the system performance of a display. This CAD system permits system performance and design trade-offs to be evaluated without constructing a physical prototype of the device. The systems includes a series of modules which permit analysis of design trade-offs in terms of their visual impact on a viewer looking at a display.

Larimer, James↗
NASA NTRS2009

Parametric Analysis of a Hover Test Vehicle using Advanced Test Generation and Data Analysis

Large complex aerospace systems are generally validated in regions local to anticipated operating points rather than through characterization of the entire feasible operational envelope of the system. This is due to the large parameter space, and complex, highly coupled nonlinear nature of the different systems that contribute to the performance of the aerospace system. We have addressed the factors deterring such an analysis by applying a combination of technologies to the area of flight envelop assessment. We utilize n-factor (2,3) combinatorial parameter variations to limit the number of cases, but still explore important interactions in the parameter space in a systematic fashion. The data generated is automatically analyzed through a combination of unsupervised learning using a Bayesian multivariate clustering technique (AutoBayes) and supervised learning of critical parameter ranges using the machine-learning tool TAR3, a treatment learner. Covariance analysis with scatter plots and likelihood contours are used to visualize correlations between simulation parameters and simulation results, a task that requires tool support, especially for large and complex models. We present results of simulation experiments for a cold-gas-powered hover test vehicle.

Gundy-Burlet, Karen↗
NASA NTRS2010

Progress in the Scandia Region Geologic Map of Mars

We are in the second year of a four year project to produce a geologic map of the Scandia region of Mars at 1:3,000,000 scale for publication in the USGS Scientific Investigations Map series. The primary objective of the map is to analyze and reconstruct the resurfacing history of this region in much greater detail than achieved by the previous northern plainswide mapping effort. This region includes (1) a broad swath of the Vastitas Borealis plains that includes various Scandia landforms and the Phoenix lander site; (2) part of the margin of the north polar plateau, Planum Boreum; and (3) the northern margin of the immense Alba Mons volcanic shield. We rely mostly on Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) digital elevation models, Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer infrared and visual range, and Context Camera images for mapping and topographic analysis.

Tanaka, K. L.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility Presentation to Open EVA Research Forum

NASA is required to accommodate individuals who fall within a 1st to 99th percentile range on a variety of critical dimensions. The hardware the crew interacts with must therefore be designed and verified to allow these selected individuals to complete critical mission tasks safely and at an optimal performance level. Until now, designers have been provided simpler univariate critical dimensional analyses. The multivariate characteristics of intra-individual and inter-individual size variation must be accounted for, since an individual who is 1st percentile in one body dimension will not be 1st percentile in all other dimensions. A more simplistic approach, assuming every measurement of an individual will fall within the same percentile range, can lead to a model that does not represent realistic members of the population. In other words, there is no '1st percentile female' or '99th percentile male', and designing for these unrealistic body types can lead to hardware issues down the road. Furthermore, due to budget considerations, designers are normally limited to providing only 1 size of a prototype suit, thus requiring other possible means to ensure that a given suit architecture would yield the necessary suit sizes to accommodate the entire user population. Fortunately, modeling tools can be used to more accurately model the types of human body sizes and shapes that will be encountered in a population. Anthropometry toolkits have been designed with a variety of capabilities, including grouping the population into clusters based on critical dimensions, providing percentile information given test subject measurements, and listing measurement ranges for critical dimensions in the 1st-99th percentile range. These toolkits can be combined with full body laser scans to allow designers to build human models that better represent the astronaut population. More recently, some rescaling and reposing capabilities have been developed, to allow reshaping of these static laser scans in more representative postures, such as an abducted shoulder. All of the hardware designed for use with the crew must be sized to accommodate the user population, but the interaction between subject size and hardware fit is complicated with multi-component, complex systems like a space suit. Again, prototype suits are normally only provided in a limited size range, and suited testing is an expensive endeavor; both of these factors limit the number and size of people who can be used to benchmark a spacesuit. However, modeling tools for assessing suit-human interaction can allow potential issues to be modeled and visualized. These types of modeling tools can be used for analysis of a larger combination of anthropometries and hardware types than could feasibly be done with actual human subjects and physical mockups.

Rajulu, Sudhakar↗
NASA NTRS2014

Real-Time Science Operations to Support a Lunar Polar Volatiles Rover Mission

Future human exploration of the Moon will likely rely on in situ resource utilization (ISRU) to enable long duration lunar missions. Prior to utilizing ISRU on the Moon, the natural resources (in this case lunar volatiles) must be identified and characterized, and ISRU demonstrated on the lunar surface. To enable future uses of ISRU, NASA and the CSA are developing a lunar rover payload that can (1) 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 both for ISRU purposes and for understanding the scientific nature of these intriguing lunar 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 approx. 2-14 days of expected sunlight at relatively low cost. Due to the limited operational time available, both science and rover operations decisions must be made in real time, requiring immediate situational awareness, data analysis, and decision support tools. Given these constraints, such a mission requires a new concept of operations. In this paper we outline the results and lessons learned from an analog field campaign in July 2012 which tested operations for a lunar polar rover concept. A rover was operated in the analog environment of Hawaii by an off-site Flight Control Center, a rover navigation center in Canada, a Science Backroom at NASA Ames Research Center in California, and support teams at NASA Johnson Space Center in Texas and NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. We find that this type of mission requires highly efficient, real time, remotely operated rover operations to enable low cost, scientifically relevant exploration of the distribution and nature of lunar polar volatiles. The field demonstration illustrated the need for science operations personnel in constant communications with the flight mission operators and the Science Backroom to provide immediate and continual science support and validation throughout the mission. Specific data analysis tools are also required to enable immediate data monitoring, visualization, and decision making. The field campaign demonstrated that this novel methodology of real-time science operations is possible and applicable to providing important new insights regarding lunar polar volatiles for both science and exploration.

Moon; Volatiles; Rover; Missions↗
NASA NTRS2021

Dual Quaternion Visual Servo Control

This paper focuses on a dual quaternion-based estimation and control approach for position-based visual servoing (PBVS). The pose estimation of the camera is achieved using a dual quaternion-based Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), which estimates the position and orientation of the camera based on feature points acquired through a sequence of camera images. Based on the estimation, a dual quaternion control law is developed to regulate the camera to the desired pose. Leveraging the local exponential stability of the EKF and the global exponential stability of the designed controller, a nonlinear separation principle is used to prove the stability of the joint estimation and control for PBVS. The method is distinguished from other PBVS methods in the sense that a compact representation of dual quaternion is used to represent the pose, and a joint stability of estimator and controller for PBVS in dual quaternion space is presented. The proposed dual quaternion PBVS method is validated using a simulation.

Quaternions↗
DOE OSTI2026

Development of a Digital Twin for Hydrogen Dispersion and Safety Assessment in an Electrolyzer-Based Hydrogen Production Facility: Preprint

Digital twin models are virtual representations of physical systems that use real-time data to simulate and optimize performance. This study presents the development and initial implementation of a digital twin (DT) for the electrolyzer-based hydrogen production facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)'s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES), focused on enhancing safety and optimizing sensor placement through physics-based simulations and metadata integration. The DT incorporates detailed facility-specific information, including component layout, leak locations, and controlled release parameters, to model hydrogen dispersion under varying environmental conditions. Using steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations informed by real meteorological data, such as wind speed, direction, and vertical wind profiles, the DT enables visualization of hydrogen plume behavior and spatial concentration distributions. Comparative analysis between high and low wind speed scenarios illustrates the significant influence of wind dynamics on plume shape and extent, with horizontal momentum dominating dispersion at higher speeds, while buoyancy effects become more prominent under low wind conditions. These simulations generate a rich dataset embedded within the DT, allowing users to assess potential leak outcomes and identify optimal sensor locations based on concentration thresholds. The model supports scenario-based analysis to guide safety strategies and equipment deployment for open-area hydrogen infrastructure. The digital twin thus serves as a dynamic platform for virtual prototyping, providing predictive insight into hydrogen behavior and enhancing risk-informed decision-making. This initial phase establishes a validated foundation for future integration of transient, uncontrolled leak scenarios and real-time sensor feedback, positioning the DT as a critical tool for safety design, operational planning, and adaptive monitoring in hydrogen systems. Overall, the approach demonstrates the value of combining environmental data with digital simulations to inform safer and more efficient deployment of hydrogen technologies.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS2005

Flow Visualization at Cryogenic Conditions Using a Modified Pressure Sensitive Paint Approach

A modification to the Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) method was used to visualize streamlines on a Blended Wing Body (BWB) model at full-scale flight Reynolds numbers. In order to achieve these conditions, the tests were carried out in the National Transonic Facility operating under cryogenic conditions in a nitrogen environment. Oxygen is required for conventional PSP measurements, and several tests have been successfully completed in nitrogen environments by injecting small amounts (typically < 3000 ppm) of oxygen into the flow. A similar technique was employed here, except that air was purged through pressure tap orifices already existent on the model surface, resulting in changes in the PSP wherever oxygen was present. The results agree quite well with predicted results obtained through computational fluid dynamics analysis (CFD), which show this to be a viable technique for visualizing flows without resorting to more invasive procedures such as oil flow or minitufts.

Watkins, A. Neal↗
DOE OSTI2020

Introductory guide to backgrounds in XPS spectra and their impact on determining peak intensities

Photoelectron and Auger peaks are central to most of the important uses of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thus, they receive the most attention in many types of analysis. Quantitative chemical analysis using XPS requires the assessment of the intensities of the photoemission peaks of the elements detected. Determination of peak intensities requires separation of the photoelectron peak signals from the background on which the peaks rest. For the determination of peak area intensities, the background is subtracted from overall signal intensity. The spectral background is also critical when peak fitting is used to determine intensities of overlapping peaks, and the model of background used in this process can impact the results. In addition to the impact on quantitative analysis, information about the depth distribution of elements in the near surface region can often be obtained by visual inspection of the background and quantified using appropriate modeling. Here, this introductory guide provides some basic information about backgrounds in the XPS analysis, describes the types of background models that are commonly used, suggests some of their strengths and weaknesses, and provides examples of their use and misuse. Although the fundamental nature of some components of the background signals in XPS is not understood, indicating that none of the models in use are fully correct and the area is subject to active research, appropriate good practices have been established for most routine analysis. The guide describes good practices, identifies errors that frequently appear in the literature, and uses examples to demonstrate the impacts of background selections on determinations of peak intensities.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1990

Computation and visualization of leading edge vortex flows

The modeling of vortical flows is a continuing requirement for the design and analysis of flight vehicles. In this paper, the computation of leading edge vortices is considered. The solution of the laminar, thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations for a transonic delta wing is presented as a representative example. Issues relating to the visualization of the results are discussed, and illustrations using the newly developed software VISUAL3 on a Stardent graphics supercomputer are included.

Murman, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Immunofluorescent Detection of DNA Double Strand Breaks induced by High-LET Radiation

Within cell nuclei, traversing charged heavy ion particles lead to the accumulation of proteins related to DNA lesions and repair along the ion trajectories. Irradiation using a standard geometric setup with the beam path perpendicular to the cell monolayer generates discrete foci of several proteins known to localize at sites of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). One such molecule is the histone protein H2AX (gamma-H2AX), which gets rapidly phosphorylated in response to ionizing radiation. Here we present data obtained with a modified irradiation geometry characterized by a beam path parallel to a monolayer of human fibroblast cells. This new irradiation geometry leads to the formation of gamma-H2AX aggregates in the shape of streaks stretching over several micrometers in the x/y plane, thus enabling the analysis of the fluorescence distributions along the particle trajectories. Qualitative analysis of these distributions presented insights into the DNA repair kinetics along the primary track structure and visualization of possible chromatin movement. We also present evidence of colocalization of gamma-H2AX with several other proteins in responses to ionizing radiation exposure. Analysis of gamma-H2AX has the potential to provide useful information on human cell responses to high LET radiation after exposure to space-like radiation.

Cucinotta, Francis A.↗
NASA NTRS2025

NASA Open Science Data Repository: Open Science for Life in Space

Space biology and health data are critical for the success of deep space missions and sustainable human presence off-world. At the core of effectively managing biomedical risks is the commitment to open science principles, which ensure that data are findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable, reproducible and maximally open. The 2021 integration of the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive with GeneLab to establish the NASA Open Science Data Repository significantly enhanced access to a wide range of life sciences, biomedical-clinical, and mission telemetry data alongside existing ‘omics data from GeneLab. This paper describes the new database, its architecture, and new data streams supporting diverse data types and enhancing data submission, retrieval, and analysis. Features include the Biological Data Management Environment for improved data submission, a new user interface, controlled data access, an enhanced API, and comprehensive public visualization tools for environmental telemetry, radiation dosimetry data, and ‘omics analyses. By fostering global collaboration through its Analysis Working Groups and training programs, the Open Science Data Repository promotes widespread engagement in space biology, ensuring transparency and inclusivity in research. It supports the global scientific community in advancing our understanding of spaceflight's impact on biological systems, ensuring humans will thrive in future deep space missions.

OSDR↗
NASA NTRS1997

Visualization of IACG data

The common data format (CDF), adopted by the international solar terrestrial physics (ISTP) program and the Interagency Consultative Group (IACG), is considered. Extensive data sharing and data analysis are needed to ensure the success of the ISTP/IACG program. The CDF user guidelines and tools for creation, visualization and manipulation are underlined. Computer software applications based on CDF data sets and designed using ISTP/IACG guidelines are shown.

Kessel, Ramona L.↗