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Voyager-Jupiter radio science data papers

The reduction and interpretation of the radio science data from the Voyager 1 and 2 encounters of the planet Jupiter and its satellites resulted in the preparation of several papers for publication in the special Voyager-Jupiter issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research. The radio science and tracking systems of the Deep Space Network provide the data which makes this research possible. This article lists submitted papers by title, with their authors and with abstracts of their contents.

Levy, G. S.↗

Weather Information Processing

Science Communications International (SCI), formerly General Science Corporation, has developed several commercial products based upon experience acquired as a NASA Contractor. Among them are METPRO, a meteorological data acquisition and processing system, which has been widely used, RISKPRO, an environmental assessment system, and MAPPRO, a geographic information system. METPRO software is used to collect weather data from satellites, ground-based observation systems and radio weather broadcasts to generate weather maps, enabling potential disaster areas to receive advance warning. GSC's initial work for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center resulted in METPAK, a weather satellite data analysis system. METPAK led to the commercial METPRO system. The company also provides data to other government agencies, U.S. embassies and foreign countries.

Source record↗

Command and Data Handling Branch Internship

Modular Integrated Stackable Layers (MISL) is a computer system designed for simple, fast, and cost effective flexible reconfiguration in space environments such as the ISS and Orion projects for various uses. Existing applications include wireless and wired communications, data acquisition and instrumentation, and camera systems, and potential applications include bus protocol converters and subsystem control. MISL is based on Texas Instruments (TI)' MSP430 16-bit ultra-low-power microcontroller device. The purpose of my project was to integrate the MISL system with a liquid crystal display (LCD) touchscreen. The LCD, manufactured by Crystalfontz and part number CFAF320240F-035T-TS, is a 320 by 240 RGB resistive color screen including an optional carrier board. The vast majority of the project was done with Altium Designer, a tool for printed circuit board (PCB) schematic capture, 3D design, and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) development. The new PCB was to allow the LCD to directly stack to the rest of MISL. Research was done with datasheets for the TI microcontroller and touchscreen display in order to meet desired hardware specifications. Documentation on prior MISL projects was also utilized. The initial step was to create a schematic for the LCD, power bus, and data bus connections between components. A layout was then designed with the required physical dimensions, routed traces and vias, power and ground planes, layer stacks, and other specified design rules such as plane clearance and hole size. Multiple consultation sessions were held with Hester Yim, the technical discipline lead for the Command and Data Handling Branch, and Christy Herring, the lead PCB layout designer in the Electronic Design and Manufacturing Branch in order to ensure proper configuration. At the moment, the PCB is awaiting revision by the latter-mentioned branch. Afterwards, the board will begin to undergo the manufacturing and testing process. Throughout the internship at Johnson Space Center, I gained several technical and professional skills. I gained proficiency in Altium Designer and experience using subversion clients, as well as knowledge in PSpice with OrCAD and battery design for spaceflight from on-site. I also gained networking, organization, and communication skills throughout meetings with coworkers and other interns. This internship at Johnson Space Center has impacted my future aspirations by further inspiring me to follow a career path into space rated engineering technology and human spaceflight applications. After graduation, I plan to attend graduate Modular Integrated Stackable Layers (MISL) is a computer system designed for simple, fast, and cost effective flexible reconfiguration in space environments such as the ISS and Orion projects for various uses. Existing applications include wireless and wired communications, data acquisition and instrumentation, and camera systems, and potential applications include bus protocol converters and subsystem control. MISL is based on Texas Instruments’ MSP430 16 bit ultra-low power microcontroller device. The purpose of my project was to integrate the MISL system with a liquid crystal display touchscreen. The LCD, manufactured by Crystalfontz and part number CFAF320240F-035T-TS, is a 320x240 RGB resistive color screen including an optional carrier board.The vast majority of the project was done with Altium Designer, a tool for printed circuit board (PCB) schematic capture, 3D design, and FPGA development. The new PCB was to allow the LCD to directly stack to the rest of MISL. Research was done with datasheets for the TI microcontroller and touchscreen display in order to meet desired hardware specifications. Documentation on prior MISL projects was also utilized. The initial step was to create a schematic for the LCD, power bus, and data bus connections between components. A layout was then designed with the required physical dimensions, routed traces and vias, power and ground planes, layer stacks, and other specified design rules such as plane clearance and hole size. Multiple consultation sessions were held with Hester Yim, the technical discipline lead for the Command and Data Handling Branch, and Christy Herring, the lead PCB layout designer in the Electronic Design and Manufacturing Branch in order to ensure proper configuration. At themoment, the PCB is awaiting revision by the latter-mentioned branch. Afterwards, the board will begin to undergo the manufacturing and testing process.Throughout the internship at Johnson Space Center, I gained several technical and professional skills. I gained proficiency in Altium Designer and experience using subversion clients, as well as knowledge in PSpice with OrCAD and battery design for spaceflight from on-site. I also gained networking, organization, and communication skills throughout meetings with coworkers and other interns. This internship at Johnson Space Center has impacted my future aspirations by further inspiring me to follow a career path into space rated engineering technology and human spaceflight applications. After graduation, I plan to attend graduate school for a master's or doctorate degree in electrical or computer engineering.

Billings, Rachel Mae↗

Database Development for Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical (EEE) Parts for the International Space Station Alpha

More effective electronic communication processes are needed to transfer contractor and international partner data into NASA and prime contractor baseline database systems. It is estimated that the International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) parts database will contain up to one million parts each of which may require database capabilities for approximately one thousand bytes of data for each part. The resulting gigabyte database must provide easy access to users who will be preparing multiple analyses and reports in order to verify as-designed, as-built, launch, on-orbit, and return configurations for up to 45 missions associated with the construction of the ISSA. Additionally, Internet access to this data base is strongly indicated to allow multiple user access from clients located in many foreign countries. This summer's project involved familiarization and evaluation of the ISSA Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical (EEE) Parts data and the process of electronically managing these data. Particular attention was devoted to improving the interfaces among the many elements of the ISSA information system and its global customers and suppliers. Additionally, prototype queries were developed to facilitate the identification of data changes in the data base, verifications that the designs used only approved parts, and certifications that the flight hardware containing EEE parts was ready for flight. This project also resulted in specific recommendations to NASA for further development in the area of EEE parts database development and usage.

Wassil-Grimm, Andrew D.↗

Terahertz (THz) Wireless Systems for Space Applications

NASA has been leading the Terahertz (THz) technology development for the sensors and instruments in astronomy in the past 20 years. THz technologies are expanding into much broader applications in recent years. Due to the vast available multiple gigahertz (GHz) broad bandwidths, THz radios offer the possibility for wireless transmission of high data rates. Multi-Gigabits per second (MGbps) broadband wireless access based on THz waves are closer to reality. The THz signal high atmosphere attenuation could significantly decrease the communication ranges and transmittable data rates for the ground systems. Contrary to the THz applications on the ground, the space applications in the atmosphere free environment do not suffer the atmosphere attenuation. The manufacturing technologies for the THz electronic components are advancing and maturing. There is great potential for the NASA future high data wireless applications in environments with difficult cabling and size/weight constraints. In this study, the THz wireless systems for potential space applications were investigated. The applicability of THz systems for space applications was analyzed. The link analysis indicates that MGbps data rates are achievable with compact sized high gain antennas.

Hwu, Shian U.↗

Facility for low-temperature spin-polarized-scanning tunneling microscopy studies of magnetic/spintronic materials prepared in situ by nitride molecular beam epitaxy

Based on the interest in, as well as exciting outlook for, nitride semiconductor based structures with regard to electronic, optoelectronic, and spintronic applications, it is compelling to investigate these systems using the powerful technique of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), a technique capable of achieving magnetic resolution down to the atomic scale. However, the delicate surfaces of these materials are easily corrupted by in-air transfers, making it unfeasible to study them in stand-alone ultra-high vacuum STM facilities. Therefore, we have carried out the development of a hybrid system including a nitrogen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy/pulsed laser epitaxy facility for sample growth combined with a low-temperature, spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscope system. The custom-designed molecular beam epitaxy growth system supports up to eight sources, including up to seven effusion cells plus a radio frequency nitrogen plasma source, for epitaxially growing a variety of materials, such as nitride semiconductors, magnetic materials, and their hetero-structures, and also incorporating in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction. The growth system also enables integration of pulsed laser epitaxy. The STM unit has a modular design, consisting of an upper body and a lower body. The upper body contains the coarse approach mechanism and the scanner unit, while the lower body accepts molecular beam epitaxy grown samples using compression springs and sample skis. The design of the system employs two stages of vibration isolation as well as a layer of acoustic noise isolation in order to reduce noise during STM measurements. This isolation allows the system to effectively acquire STM data in a typical lab space, which during its construction had no special and highly costly elements included, (such as isolated slabs) which would lower the environmental noise. The design further enables tip exchange and tip coating without breaking vacuum, and convenient visual access to the sample and tip inside a superconducting magnet cryostat. A sample/tip handling system is optimized for both the molecular beam epitaxy growth system and the scanning tunneling microscope system. The sample/tip handing system enables in situ STM studies on epitaxially grown samples, and tip exchange in the superconducting magnet cryostat. The hybrid molecular beam epitaxy and low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy system is capable of growing semiconductor-based hetero-structures with controlled accuracy down to a single atomic-layer and imaging them down to atomic resolution.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Hall Effect Thruster Interactions Data From the Russian Express-A2 and Express-A3 Satellites: Acquire Express-A3 SPT-100 Based Propulsion Subsystem and Other Subsystem Flight Operation TM-Data, Task 32 - Part 7

This 12-part report documents the data obtained from various sensor measurements taken aboard the Russian Express-A2 and Express-A3 spacecraft in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). These GEO communications satellites, which were designed and built by NPO Prikladnoy Mekhaniki (NPO PM) of Zheleznogorsk, Russia, utilize Hall thruster propulsion systems for north-south and east-west stationkeeping and as of June 2002, were still operating at 80 E. and 11 W., respectively. Express-A2 was launched on March 12, 2000, while Express-A3 was launched on June 24, 2000. The diagnostic equipment from which these data were taken includes electric field strength sensors, ion current and energy sensors, and pressure sensors. The diagnostics and the Hall thruster propulsion systems are described in detail along with lists of tabular data from those diagnostics and propulsion system and other satellite systems. Space Power, Inc., now part of Pratt & Whitney's Chemical Systems Division, to the NASA Glenn Research Center, obtained these data over several periods from March 12, 2000, through September 30, 2001. Each of the 12 individual reports describe, in detail, the propulsion systems as well as the diagnostic sensors utilized. Finally, parts 11 and 12 include the requirements to which NPO PM prepared and delivered these data.

Sitnikova, N.↗

Accelerating scientific discoveries through data-driven innovations

Developing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods that can accelerate scientific discoveries and advance science has become one of the important research directions for the AI/ML research community. It has been gaining increasing attention from researchers in diverse scientific areas, including biomedical science, materials science, climate science, physics, chemistry, and many others. Data-driven AI/ML innovations to enable reliable predictions and optimal decision making for scientific discoveries face several critical challenges, among which are high system complexity, large search space, incomplete knowledge, and small data, all of which demand novel strategies to effectively address them. Meeting these challenges and thereby accelerating scientific discoveries and industrial innovations, calls for research that can take full advantage of the latest advances in AI/ML to integrate data-driven techniques with scientific knowledge and is able to execute them in modern high-performance computing (HPC) environments at scale. This Patterns special collection "Accelerating scientific discoveries through data-driven innovations" features articles that showcase the promising roles of AI/ML and data-driven modeling in accelerating scientific discoveries and may inspire the next wave of data-driven innovations in various scientific domains.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Framework for NASA Space Relay Satellite Services over the Next Decade: “Development and Demonstration of the Commercial Successors to TDRS “

The United States National Space Policy provides guidance and directives for U.S. Government agencies to purchase commercial space services and capabilities to the maximum extent practical. In alignment with this guidance, the Agency has no plans to replenish the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) fleet operated by the Space Communication and Navigation Program (SCaN) and will instead pursue commercial services for communications with spacecraft in near-Earth orbit. The Communication Services Project (CSP) at GRC is leading this commercialization effort and in May 2022 it awarded six contracts to commercial SATCOM companies to demonstrate and validate commercial SATCOM capabilities for future NASA missions. The responses from the vendors indicated a strong interest in providing commercial services to NASA’s missions, and included a wide range of proposed architectures and demonstrations ideas. Overall, the responses indicated that a mature and healthy competitive environment exists with traditional satellite operators and constellation developers to provide NASA with commercial communication services in the next five years. This paper will present an overview of the proposed capability coverages, risk spread and US domestic market stimulation along with common themes and conclusions. The result of these demonstrations will serve as the basis for acquisition and provision of operational SATCOM services for NASA missions.

George F Haddad↗

Framework for NASA Space Relay Satellite Services Over the Next Decade: “Development and Demonstration of the Commercial Successors to TDRS "

The United States National Space Policy provides guidance and directives for U.S. Government agencies to purchase commercial space services and capabilities to the maximum extent practical. In alignment with this guidance, the Agency has no plans to replenish the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) fleet operated by the Space Communication and Navigation Program (SCaN) and will instead pursue commercial services for communications with spacecraft in near-Earth orbit. The Communications Services Project (CSP) at GRC is leading this commercialization effort and in May 2022 it awarded six contracts to commercial SATCOM companies to demonstrate and validate commercial SATCOM capabilities for future NASA and near space user missions. The responses from the vendors indicated a strong interest in providing commercial services to NASA’s missions and included a wide range of proposed architectures and demonstrations concepts. Overall, the responses indicated that a mature and healthy competitive environment exists with traditional satellite operators and constellation developers to provide NASA and future near space users with commercial communication services in the next five years. This paper will present an overview of the proposed capability coverages, risk spread, and US domestic market stimulation, along with common themes and conclusions. The result of these demonstrations will serve as the basis for acquisition and provision of operational SATCOM services for NASA missions.

SATCOM↗

A study of spatial data management and analysis systems

The Earth Resources Laboratory of the NASA Stennis Space Center is a center of space related technology for Earth observations. It has assumed the task, in a joint effort with Jackson State University, to reach out to the science community and acquire information pertaining to characteristics of spatially oriented data processing.

Christopher, Clyde↗

Temporal Cyber Attack Detection.

Rigorous characterization of the performance and generalization ability of cyber defense systems is extremely difficult, making it hard to gauge uncertainty, and thus, confidence. This difficulty largely stems from a lack of labeled attack data that fully explores the potential adversarial space. Currently, performance of cyber defense systems is typically evaluated in a qualitative manner by manually inspecting the results of the system on live data and adjusting as needed. Additionally, machine learning has shown promise in deriving models that automatically learn indicators of compromise that are more robust than analyst-derived detectors. However, to generate these models, most algorithms require large amounts of labeled data (i.e., examples of attacks). Algorithms that do not require annotated data to derive models are similarly at a disadvantage, because labeled data is still necessary when evaluating performance. In this work, we explore the use of temporal generative models to learn cyber attack graph representations and automatically generate data for experimentation and evaluation. Training and evaluating cyber systems and machine learning models requires significant, annotated data, which is typically collected and labeled by hand for one-off experiments. Automatically generating such data helps derive/evaluate detection models and ensures reproducibility of results. Experimentally, we demonstrate the efficacy of generative sequence analysis techniques on learning the structure of attack graphs, based on a realistic example. These derived models can then be used to generate more data. Additionally, we provide a roadmap for future research efforts in this area.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Long Duration Exposure Facility experiment M0003 deintegration/findings and impacts

The Aerospace Corporation LDEF Experiment M0003 was designed to study the effect of the space environment on a large variety of spacecraft materials and components, both current and developmental. The experiment was housed in four LDEF trays and contained over 1200 specimens, two data systems, and two environment exposure control canisters. Effects of the space environment such as vacuum, ultraviolet, atomic oxygen, meteoroid and debris, thermal cycling and synergistic effects on various samples are described, and summaries of the board data are presented.

Meshishnek, M. J.↗

Anthropometric data from launch and entry suited test subjects for the design of a recumbent seating system

Returning space crews to Earth in a recumbent position requires the design of a new seating system. Current anthropometric data are based on measurements taken while the subjects were unsuited and sitting. To be most accurate, it is necessary to design by measurements of subjects in the launch and entry suit in a recumbent position. Since the design of the recumbent seating system must meet the requirements of both 5th percentile Japanese female and 95th percentile American male crew members, a delta is reported rather than absolute measurements of the test subjects. This delta is the difference in the measurements taken with the subjects unsuited and sitting and those taken with the subjects suited and recumbent. This delta, representative of the change due to the suit, can be added to the existing Man-Systems Integration Standards (NASA-STD-3000) anthropometric data to project the measurements for 5th percentile Japanese female and 95th percentile American male crew members. A delta accounting for the spinal elongation caused by prolonged exposures to microgravity is added as well. Both unpressurized and pressurized suit conditions are considered. Background information, the test protocol and procedure, analysis of the data, and recommendations are reported.

Stoycos, Lara E.↗

Project Copernicus: An Earth observing system

Hunsaker Aerospace Corporation is presenting this proposal for Project Copernicus to fulfill the need for space-based remote sensing of Earth. Concentration is on data acquisition. Copernicus is designed to be a flexible system of spacecraft in a low near-polar orbit. The goal is to acquire data so that the scientists may begin to understand many Earth processes and interactions. The mission objective of Copernicus is to provide a space-based, remote-sensing measurement data acquisition and transfer system for 15 years. A description of the design project is presented.

Source record↗

Moving Towards a Common Ground and Flight Data Systems Architecture for NASA's Exploration Missions

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has embarked on an ambitious effort to return man to the moon and then on to Mars. The Exploration Vision requires development of major new space and ground assets and poses challenges well beyond those faced by many of NASA's recent programs. New crewed vehicles must be developed. Compatible supply vehicles, surface mobility modules and robotic exploration capabilities will supplement the manned exploration vehicle. New launch systems will be developed as well as a new ground communications and control infrastructure. The development must take place in a cost-constrained environment and must advance along an aggressive schedule. Common solutions and system interoperability and will be critical to the successful development of the Exploration data systems for this wide variety of flight and ground elements. To this end, NASA has assembled a team of engineers from across the agency to identify the key challenges for Exploration data systems and to establish the most beneficial strategic approach to be followed. Key challenges and the planned NASA approach for flight and ground systems will be discussed in the paper. The described approaches will capitalize on new technologies, and will result in cross-program interoperability between spacecraft and ground systems, from multiple suppliers and agencies.

Rader. Steve↗

Earth Observatory Satellite system definition study. Report no. 3: Design/cost tradeoff studies. Appendix A: EOS program WBS dictionary. Appendix B: EOS mission functional analysis

The work breakdown structure (WBS) dictionary for the Earth Observatory Satellite (EOS) is defined. The various elements of the EOS program are examined to include the aggregate of hardware, computer software, services, and data required to develop, produce, test, support, and operate the space vehicle and the companion ground data management system. A functional analysis of the EOS mission is developed. The operations for three typical EOS missions, Delta, Titan, and Shuttle launched are considered. The functions were determined for the top program elements, and the mission operations, function 2.0, was expanded to level one functions. Selection of ten level one functions for further analysis to level two and three functions were based on concern for the EOS operations and associated interfaces.

Source record↗

Discovering Recurring Anomalies in Text Reports Regarding Complex Space Systems

Many existing complex space systems have a significant amount of historical maintenance and problem data bases that are stored in unstructured text forms. For some platforms, these reports may be encoded as scanned images rather than even searchable text. The problem that we address in this paper is the discovery of recurring anomalies and relationships between different problem reports that may indicate larger systemic problems. We will illustrate our techniques on data from discrepancy reports regarding software anomalies in the Space Shuttle. These free text reports are written by a number of different penp!e, thus the emphasis and wording varies considerably.

Zane-Ulman, Brett↗