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NASA NTRS2003

Work measurement for estimating food preparation time of a bioregenerative diet

During space missions, such as the prospective Mars mission, crew labor time is a strictly limited resource. The diet for such a mission (based on crops grown in a bioregenerative life support system) will require astronauts to prepare their meals essentially from raw ingredients. Time spent on food processing and preparation is time lost for other purposes. Recipe design and diet planning for a space mission should therefore incorporate the time required to prepare the recipes as a critical factor. In this study, videotape analysis of an experienced chef was used to develop a database of recipe preparation time. The measurements were highly consistent among different measurement teams. Data analysis revealed a wide variation between the active times of different recipes, underscoring the need for optimization of diet planning. Potential uses of the database developed in this study are discussed and illustrated in this work.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗

NASA NTRS2003

Termolecular ion-molecule reactions in Titan's atmosphere. IV. A search made at up to 1 micron in pure hydrocarbons

The results of a study of ion-molecule reactions occurring in pure methane, acetylene, ethylene, ethane, propyne, propene, propane, and diacetylene at pressures up to 40 microns of pressure are reported. A variety of experimental methods are used: The standard double resonance in an ICR, for determination of the precursor ions and the modulated double resonance ejection in an ICR, for the determination of the daughter ions. The FA-SIFT technique was used for validation and examination of termolecular reactions with rate coefficients that are less than 10(-26) cm(6) s(-1). An extensive database of reaction kinetics already exists for many of these reactions. The main point of this study was the determination of the accuracy of this database and to search for any missing reactions and reaction channels that may have been omitted from earlier investigations. A specific objective of this work was to extend the study to the highest pressures possible to find out if there were any important termolecular reaction channels occurring. A new approach was used here. In the pure hydrocarbon gases the mass spectra were followed as a function of the pressure changes of the gas. An initial guess was first made using the current literature as a source of the reaction kinetics that were expected. A model of the ion abundances was produced from the solution of the partial differential equations in terms of reaction rate coefficients and initial abundances. The experimental data was fitted to the model for all of the pressures by a least squares minimization to the reaction rate coefficients and initial abundances. The reaction rate coefficients obtained from the model were then compared to the literature values. Several new channels and reactions were discovered when the modeled fits were compared to the actual data. This is all explained in the text and the implications of these results are discussed for the Titan atmosphere.

Hydrocarbons, Acyclic/analysis↗

NASA NTRS1999

Classification of ion mobility spectra by functional groups using neural networks

Neural networks were trained using whole ion mobility spectra from a standardized database of 3137 spectra for 204 chemicals at various concentrations. Performance of the network was measured by the success of classification into ten chemical classes. Eleven stages for evaluation of spectra and of spectral pre-processing were employed and minimums established for response thresholds and spectral purity. After optimization of the database, network, and pre-processing routines, the fraction of successful classifications by functional group was 0.91 throughout a range of concentrations. Network classification relied on a combination of features, including drift times, number of peaks, relative intensities, and other factors apparently including peak shape. The network was opportunistic, exploiting different features within different chemical classes. Application of neural networks in a two-tier design where chemicals were first identified by class and then individually eliminated all but one false positive out of 161 test spectra. These findings establish that ion mobility spectra, even with low resolution instrumentation, contain sufficient detail to permit the development of automated identification systems.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS2005

A Reduced-frequency Approach for Calculating Dynamic Derivatives

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is increasingly being used to both augment and create an aerodynamic performance database for aircraft configurations. This aerodynamic database contains the response of the aircraft to varying flight conditions and control surface deflections. The current work presents a novel method for calculating dynamic stability derivatives which reduces the computational cost over traditional unsteady CFD approaches by an order of magnitude, while still being applicable to arbitrarily complex geometries over a wide range of flow regimes. The primary thesis of this work is that the response to a forced motion can often be represented with a small, predictable number of frequency components without loss of accuracy. By resolving only those frequencies of interest, the computational effort is significantly reduced so that the routine calculation of dynamic derivatives becomes practical. The current implementation uses this same non-linear, frequency-domain approach and extends the application to the 3-D Euler equations. The current work uses a Cartesian, embedded-boundary method to automate the generation of dynamic stability derivatives.

Murman, Scott M.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Desktop Access to Full-Text NACA and NASA Reports: Systems Developed by NASA Langley Technical Library

NASA Langley Technical Library has been involved in developing systems for full-text information delivery of NACA/NASA technical reports since 1991. This paper will describe the two prototypes it has developed and the present production system configuration. The prototype systems are a NACA CD-ROM of thirty-three classic paper NACA reports and a network-based Full-text Electronic Reports Documents System (FEDS) constructed from both paper and electronic formats of NACA and NASA reports. The production system is the DigiDoc System (DIGItal Documents) presently being developed based on the experiences gained from the two prototypes. DigiDoc configuration integrates the on-line catalog database World Wide Web interface and PDF technology to provide a powerful and flexible search and retrieval system. It describes in detail significant achievements and lessons learned in terms of data conversion, storage technologies, full-text searching and retrieval, and image databases. The conclusions from the experiences of digitization and full- text access and future plans for DigiDoc system implementation are discussed.

Ambur, Manjula Y.↗

NASA NTRS1997

The Benchmark Active Controls Technology Model Aerodynamic Data

The Benchmark Active Controls Technology (BACT) model is a part of the Benchmark Models Program (BMP). The BMP is a NASA Langley Research Center program that includes a series of models which were used to study different aeroelastic phenomena and to validate computational fluid dynamics codes. The primary objective of BACT testing was to obtain steady and unsteady loads, accelerations, and aerodynamic pressures due to control surface activity in order to calibrate unsteady CFD codes and active control design tools. Three wind-tunnel tests in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) have been completed. The first and parts of the second and third tests focused on collecting open-loop data to define the model's aeroservoelastic characteristics, including the flutter boundary across the Mach range. It is this data that is being presented in this paper. An extensive database of over 3000 data sets was obtained. This database includes steady and unsteady control surface effectiveness data, including pressure distributions, control surface hinge moments, and overall model loads due to deflections of a trailing edge control surface and upper and lower surface

Scott, Robert C.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Electron Emission Properties of Insulator Materials Pertinent to the International Space Station

We present the results of our measurements of the electron emission properties of selected insulating and conducting materials used on the International Space Station (ISS). Utah State University (USU) has performed measurements of the electron-, ion-, and photon-induced electron emission properties of conductors for a few years, and has recently extended our capabilities to measure electron yields of insulators, allowing us to significantly expand current spacecraft material charging databases. These ISS materials data are used here to illustrate our various insulator measurement techniques that include: i) Studies of electron-induced secondary and backscattered electron yield curves using pulsed, low current electron beams to minimize deleterious affects of insulator charging. ii) Comparison of several methods used to determine the insulator 1st and 2nd crossover energies. These incident electron energies induce unity total yield at the transition between yields greater than and less than one with either negative or positive charging, respectively. The crossover energies are very important in determining both the polarity and magnitude of spacecraft surface potentials. iii) Evolution of electron emission energy spectra as a function of insulator charging used to determine the surface potential of insulators. iv) Surface potential evolution as a function of pulsed-electron fluence to determine how quickly insulators charge, and how this can affect subsequent electron yields. v) Critical incident electron energies resulting in electrical breakdown of insulator materials and the effect of breakdown on subsequent emission, charging and conduction. vi) Charge-neutralization techniques such as low-energy electron flooding and UV light irradiation to dissipate both positive and negative surface potentials during yield measurements. Specific ISS materials being tested at USU include chromic and sulfuric anodized aluminum, RTV-silicone solar array adhesives, solar cell cover glasses, Kapton, and gold. Further details of the USU testing facilities, the instrumentation used for insulator measurements, and the NASA/SEE Charge Collector materials database are provided in other Spacecraft Charging Conference presentations (Dennison, 2003b). The work presented was supported in part by the NASA Space Environments and Effects (SEE) Program, the Boeing Corporation, and a NASA Graduate Fellowship. Samples were supplied by Boeing, the Environmental Effects Group at Marshall Space Flight Center, and Sheldahl, Inc.

Thomson, C. D.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Post Eruption Hazards at Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines

Our project focused on the investigation of the post-eruption hazards at Mt. Pinatubo (Philippines) using remote sensing data, and field observations of the 1991 eruption deposits. Through the use of multiple satellite images, field work, and the 1996/2000 PacRim data sets, we conducted studies of the co- and post-eruption hazards of the volcano due to erosion and re-deposition of the extensive pyroclastic flow deposits. A major part of this project was the assembly and analysis of a database of over 50 high resolution (1 - 50 m/pixel) images that will facilitate this study. We collected Ikonos, SPOT, SIR-C/X-SAR, Landsat, ERS, RADARSAT, and ASTER images of the area around Mt. Pinatubo. An example of the changes that could be seen in these data is shown. Our investigation focused on a retrospective analysis of the erosion, redeposition, and re-vegetation of the 1991 pyroclastic flow deposits of Mt. Pinatubo. The primary geologic goal of our work was the analysis of the spatial distribution and volume change of the sources and sinks of materials associated with mudflow ('lahar') events. This included the measurement of river valley gradients and cross-sections using TOPSAR digital elevation data, as we are participating in the PacRim 2000 deployment to the Philippines specifically so that we can collect a second set of TOPSAR data that can then be used to create a topographic difference image of the volcano. The main results from this multi-sensor study have been published as Torres et al.. A discussion of the methodology that we used to assemble an appropriate database was included in Mouginis-Mark and Domergue-Schmidt. As part of an educational outreach effort, we also helped the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) in the Philippines to use NASA data to study Mt. Pinatubo and other Filipino volcanoes.

Mouginis-Mark, Peter J.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Response of Sea Ice and Marine Ecosystems to the Observed Warming Trends in the Arctic

Our third (final) year activities have focused on two elements: 1) Creating and evaluating panarctic weekly climatologies of ocean color products for 1998 through 2002, 2) Interacting to assess image databases, submit and revise publications. Comiso and his programmer have principal responsibility for assembling and archiving the monthly and weekly image database at GSFC. There are now five year's (1998-2002) of climatologies. In addition to email correspondence, the PIs have met to prepare a series of publications ranging from panarctic physical-biological interactions to more focused regional studies.

Cota, Glenn F.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Optimizing the NASA Technical Report Server

The NASA Technical Report Server (NTRS), a World Wide Web report distribution NASA technical publications service, is modified for performance enhancement, greater protocol support, and human interface optimization. Results include: Parallel database queries, significantly decreasing user access times by an average factor of 2.3; access from clients behind firewalls and/ or proxies which truncate excessively long Uniform Resource Locators (URLs); access to non-Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) databases and compatibility with the 239-50.3 protocol; and a streamlined user interface.

Nelson, Michael L.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Predicting cancer rates in astronauts from animal carcinogenesis studies and cellular markers

The radiation space environment includes particles such as protons and multiple species of heavy ions, with much of the exposure to these radiations occurring at extremely low average dose-rates. Limitations in databases needed to predict cancer hazards in human beings from such radiations are significant and currently do not provide confidence that such predictions are acceptably precise or accurate. In this article, we outline the need for animal carcinogenesis data based on a more sophisticated understanding of the dose-response relationship for induction of cancer and correlative cellular endpoints by representative space radiations. We stress the need for a model that can interrelate human and animal carcinogenesis data with cellular mechanisms. Using a broad model for dose-response patterns which we term the "subalpha-alpha-omega (SAO) model", we explore examples in the literature for radiation-induced cancer and for radiation-induced cellular events to illustrate the need for data that define the dose-response patterns more precisely over specific dose ranges, with special attention to low dose, low dose-rate exposure. We present data for multiple endpoints in cells, which vary in their radiosensitivity, that also support the proposed model. We have measured induction of complex chromosome aberrations in multiple cell types by two space radiations, Fe-ions and protons, and compared these to photons delivered at high dose-rate or low dose-rate. Our data demonstrate that at least three factors modulate the relative efficacy of Fe-ions compared to photons: (i) intrinsic radiosensitivity of irradiated cells; (ii) dose-rate; and (iii) another unspecified effect perhaps related to reparability of DNA lesions. These factors can produce respectively up to at least 7-, 6- and 3-fold variability. These data demonstrate the need to understand better the role of intrinsic radiosensitivity and dose-rate effects in mammalian cell response to ionizing radiation. Such understanding is critical in extrapolating databases between cellular response, animal carcinogenesis and human carcinogenesis, and we suggest that the SAO model is a useful tool for such extrapolation.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS2004

Specification, Design, and Analysis of Advanced HUMS Architectures

During the two-year project period, we have worked on several aspects of domain-specific architectures for HUMS. In particular, we looked at using scenario-based approach for the design and designed a language for describing such architectures. The language is now being used in all aspects of our HUMS design. In particular, we have made contributions in the following areas. 1) We have employed scenarios in the development of HUMS in three main areas. They are: (a) To improve reusability by using scenarios as a library indexing tool and as a domain analysis tool; (b) To improve maintainability by recording design rationales from two perspectives - problem domain and solution domain; (c) To evaluate the software architecture. 2) We have defined a new architectural language called HADL or HUMS Architectural Definition Language. It is a customized version of xArch/xADL. It is based on XML and, hence, is easily portable from domain to domain, application to application, and machine to machine. Specifications written in HADL can be easily read and parsed using the currently available XML parsers. Thus, there is no need to develop a plethora of software to support HADL. 3) We have developed an automated design process that involves two main techniques: (a) Selection of solutions from a large space of designs; (b) Synthesis of designs. However, the automation process is not an absolute Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach though it uses a knowledge-based system that epitomizes a specific HUMS domain. The process uses a database of solutions as an aid to solve the problems rather than creating a new design in the literal sense. Since searching is adopted as the main technique, the challenges involved are: (a) To minimize the effort in searching the database where a very large number of possibilities exist; (b) To develop representations that could conveniently allow us to depict design knowledge evolved over many years; (c) To capture the required information that aid the automation process.

Mukkamala, Ravi↗

NASA NTRS2004

Airframe Noise Sub-Component Definition and Model

Both in-house, and jointly with NASA under the Advanced Subsonic Transport (AST) program, Boeing Commerical Aircraft Company (BCA) had begun work on systematically identifying specific components of noise responsible for total airframe noise generation and applying the knowledge gained towards the creation of a model for airframe noise prediction. This report documents the continuation of the collection of database from model-scale and full-scale airframe noise measurements to compliment the earlier existing databases, the development of the subcomponent models and the generation of a new empirical prediction code. The airframe subcomponent data includes measurements from aircraft ranging in size from a Boeing 737 to aircraft larger than a Boeing 747 aircraft. These results provide the continuity to evaluate the technology developed under the AST program consistent with the guidelines set forth in NASA CR-198298.

Golub, Robert A.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Design and Experimental Verification of Deployable/Inflatable Ultra-Lightweight Structures

Because launch cost of a space structural system is often proportional to the launch volume and mass and there is no significant gravity in space, NASA's space exploration programs and various science missions have stimulated extensive use of ultra-lightweight deployable/inflatable structures. These structures are named here as Highly Flexible Structures (HFSs) because they are designed to undergo large displacements, rotations, and/or buckling without plastic deformation under normal operation conditions. Except recent applications to space structural systems, HFSs have been used in many mechanical systems, civil structures, aerospace vehicles, home appliances, and medical devices to satisfy space limitations, provide special mechanisms, and/or reduce structural weight. The extensive use of HFSs in today's structural engineering reveals the need of a design and analysis software and a database system with design guidelines for practicing engineers to perform computer-aided design and rapid prototyping of HFSs. Also to prepare engineering students for future structural engineering requires a new and easy-to- understand method of presenting the complex mathematics of the modeling and analysis of HFSs. However, because of the high flexibility of HFSs, many unique challenging problems in the modeling, design and analysis of HFSs need to be studied. The current state of research on HFSs needs advances in the following areas: (1) modeling of large rotations using appropriate strain measures, (2) modeling of cross-section warpings of structures, (3) how to account for both large rotations and cross- section warpings in 2D (two-dimensional) and 1D structural theories, (4) modeling of thickness thinning of membranes due to inflation pressure, pretension, and temperature change, (5) prediction of inflated shapes and wrinkles of inflatable structures, (6) development of efficient numerical methods for nonlinear static and dynamic analyses, and (7) filling the gap between geometrically exact elastic analysis and elastoplastic analysis. The objectives of this research project were: (1) to study the modeling, design, and analysis of deployable/inflatable ultra-lightweight structures, (2) to perform numerical and experimental studies on the static and dynamic characteristics and deployability of HFSs, (3) to derive guidelines for designing HFSs, (4) to develop a MATLAB toolbox for the design, analysis, and dynamic animation of HFSs, and (5) to perform experiments and establish an adequate database of post-buckling characteristics of HFSs.

Pai, P. Frank↗

NASA NTRS2004

Global Geospace Science (GGS)/POLAR Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiments (TIDE) Co-Investigator Program: Mission Operations and Data Analysis (MO/DA)

We have pursued several investigations using the Polar/TIDE data set. The first was a comparison of TIDE high-altitude observations with similar ion flux signatures in the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) magnetospheric plasma analyzer (MPA) data. There are several geosynchronously orbiting satellites with LANL MPA instruments onboard. When the satellite is immersed in fresh plasma sheet electrons, the spacecraft voltage drops to several hundred volts negative, and cold ions are accelerated in to the detector. In the LANL MPA spectrograms, the accelerated cold ions appear as a bright, narrow line, following the voltage of the spacecraft. This "ion line" is seen regularly on the nightside, but has not received much attention. The Polar TIDE observations indicated a ubiquitous "lobal wind" in the near-- magnetotail, a field-aligned stream of approx. 100 eV ions flowing out of both polar ionospheres. The interesting result of this research is that the MPA ion line is also peaked in the field-aligned direction, even though the potential well should be uniform in all directions. It is believed that this is evidence that the lobal winds not only populate the high-latitude lobes, but fill the lobes all the way in to the near-Earth plasma sheet (the location of geosynchronous orbit). This activity developed into a full-scale survey of the lobal wind observations in the TIDE database. The universality of these observations with respect to local time and solar wind conditions implies that the ionospheric outflow is supplying the near-Earth plasma sheet at all times, regardless of magnetic activity. We have conducted a statistical study of the characteristics of the lobal wind in these two data sets FIDE and LANL MPA), finding much similarity between them. Using these characteristics as input conditions to our inner magnetosphere ion transport model, we have conducted simulations of the flow of these particles inside of geosynchronous orbit to show the impact these particles will have on the near-Earth space environment. As the study has progressed, these results have been presented several times to the TIDE team during teleconferences. It is planned to present this survey at the GEM 2004 Summer Workshop, and hopefully at additional conferences in the near future. We are presently writing a paper on the lobal wind occurrence statistics, which should be submitted in April or May to the Journal of Geophysical Research for publication. An undergraduate student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Will Maddox, working at NASA MSFC with Dr. Paul Craven, is presently creating a database of the values TIDE moments for the lobal wind (under Dr. Liemohn's guidance), and this will be the focus of a follow-on paper.

Nagy, Andrew↗

NASA NTRS2004

NASA Technology Takes Center Stage

In today's fast-paced business world, there is often more information available to researchers than there is time to search through it. Data mining has become the answer to finding the proverbial "needle in a haystack," as companies must be able to quickly locate specific pieces of information from large collections of data. Perilog, a suite of data-mining tools, searches for hidden patterns in large databases to determine previously unrecognized relationships. By retrieving and organizing contextually relevant data from any sequence of terms - from genetic data to musical notes - the software can intelligently compile information about desired topics from databases.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2005

The Distribution of Cloud to Ground Lightning Strike Intensities and Associated Magnetic Inductance Fields Near the Kennedy Space Center

Lightning strike location and peak current are monitored operationally in the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) area by the Cloud to Ground Lightning Surveillance System (CGLSS). The present study compiles ten years worth of CGLSS data into a database of near strikes. Using shuffle launch platform LP39A as a convenient central point, all strikes recorded within a 20-mile radius for the period of record O R ) from January 1, 1993 to December 31,2002 were included in the subset database. Histograms and cumulative probability curves are produced for both strike intensity (peak current, in kA) and the corresponding magnetic inductance fields (in A/m). Results for the full POR have application to launch operations lightning monitoring and post-strike test procedures.

Burns, Lee↗

NASA NTRS2005

Flight Testing an Integrated Synthetic Vision System

NASA's Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) project is developing technologies with practical applications to eliminate low visibility conditions as a causal factor to civil aircraft accidents while replicating the operational benefits of clear day flight operations, regardless of the actual outside visibility condition. A major thrust of the SVS project involves the development/demonstration of affordable, certifiable display configurations that provide intuitive out-the-window terrain and obstacle information with advanced pathway guidance for transport aircraft. The SVS concept being developed at NASA encompasses the integration of tactical and strategic Synthetic Vision Display Concepts (SVDC) with Runway Incursion Prevention System (RIPS) alerting and display concepts, real-time terrain database integrity monitoring equipment (DIME), and Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) and/or improved Weather Radar for real-time object detection and database integrity monitoring. A flight test evaluation was jointly conducted (in July and August 2004) by NASA Langley Research Center and an industry partner team under NASA's Aviation Safety and Security, Synthetic Vision System project. A Gulfstream GV aircraft was flown over a 3-week period in the Reno/Tahoe International Airport (NV) local area and an additional 3-week period in the Wallops Flight Facility (VA) local area to evaluate integrated Synthetic Vision System concepts. The enabling technologies (RIPS, EVS and DIME) were integrated into the larger SVS concept design. This paper presents experimental methods and the high level results of this flight test.

Kramer, Lynda J.↗