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NASA NTRS2018

EVA Swab Tool to Support Planetary Protection and Astrobiology Evaluations

When we send humans to search for life on other planets, we'll need to know what we brought with us versus what may already be there. To ensure our crewed systems meet planetary protection requirements-and to protect our science from human contamination-we'll need to assess whether microorganisms may be leaking or venting from our spacecraft. Microbial sample collection outside of a pressurized spacecraft is complicated by temperature extremes, low pressures that preclude the use of laboratory standard (wetted) swabs, and operation either in bulky spacesuits or with robotic assistance. Engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently developed a swab kit for use in collecting microbial samples from the external surfaces of crewed spacecraft, including spacesuits. The Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Swab Kit consists of a single swab tool handle and an eight-canister sample caddy. The design team minimized development cost by re-purposing a heritage Space Shuttle tile repair handle that was designed to quickly snap into different tool attachments by engaging a mating device in each attachment. This allowed the tool handle to snap onto a fresh swab attachment much like popular shaving razor handles can snap onto a disposable blade cartridge. To disengage the handle from a swab, the user performs two independent functions, which can be done with a single hand. This dual operation mitigates the risk that a swab will be inadvertently released and lost in microgravity. Each swab attachment is fitted with commercially available foam swab tips, vendor-certified to be sterile for Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). A microbial filter installed in the bottom of each sample container allows the container to outgas and repressurize without introducing microbial contaminants to internal void spaces. Extensive ground testing, post-test handling, and sample analysis confirmed the design is able to maintain sterile conditions as the canister moves between various pressure environments. To further minimize cost, the design team acquired extensive ground test experience in a relevant flight environment by piggy-backing onto suited crew training runs. These training runs allowed the project to validate tool interfaces with pressurized EVA gloves and collect user feedback on the tool design and function, as well as characterize baseline microbial data for different types of spacesuits. In general, test subjects found the EVA Swab Kit relatively straightforward to operate, but identified a number of design improvements that will be incorporated into the final design. Although originally intended to help characterize human forward contaminants, this tool has other potential applications, such as for collecting and preserving space-exposed materials to support astrobiology experiments.

Rucker, Michelle A.↗

DOE OSTI2021

INTEGRATE - Inverse Network Transformations for Efficient Generation of Robust Airfoil and Turbine Enhancements

The INTEGRATE (Inverse Network Transformations for Efficient Generation of Robust Airfoil and Turbine Enhancements) project is developing a new inverse-design capability for the aerodynamic design of wind turbine rotors using invertible neural networks. This AI-based design technology can capture complex non-linear aerodynamic effects while being 100 times faster than design approaches based on computational fluid dynamics. This project enables innovation in wind turbine design by accelerating time to market through higher-accuracy early design iterations to reduce the levelized cost of energy. INVERTIBLE NEURAL NETWORKS Researchers are leveraging a specialized invertible neural network (INN) architecture along with the novel dimension-reduction methods and airfoil/blade shape representations developed by collaborators at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) learns complex relationships between airfoil or blade shapes and their associated aerodynamic and structural properties. This INN architecture will accelerate designs by providing a cost-effective alternative to current industrial aerodynamic design processes, including: - Blade element momentum (BEM) theory models: limited effectiveness for design of offshore rotors with large, flexible blades where nonlinear aerodynamic effects dominate - Direct design using computational fluid dynamics (CFD): cost-prohibitive - Inverse-design models based on deep neural networks (DNNs): attractive alternative to CFD for 2D design problems, but quickly overwhelmed by the increased number of design variables in 3D problems AUTOMATED COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS FOR TRAINING DATA GENERATION - MERCURY FRAMEWORK The INN is trained on data obtained using the University of Marylands (UMD) Mercury Framework, which has with robust automated mesh generation capabilities and advanced turbulence and transition models validated for wind energy applications. Mercury is a multi-mesh paradigm, heterogeneous CPU-GPU framework. The framework incorporates three flow solvers at UMD, 1) OverTURNS, a structured solver on CPUs, 2) HAMSTR, a line based unstructured solver on CPUs, and 3) GARFIELD, a structured solver on GPUs. The framework is based on Python, that is often used to wrap C or Fortran codes for interoperability with other solvers. Communication between multiple solvers is accomplished with a Topology Independent Overset Grid Assembler (TIOGA). NOVEL AIRFOIL SHAPE REPRESENTATIONS USING GRASSMAN SPACES We developed a novel representation of shapes which decouples affine-style deformations from a rich set of data-driven deformations over a submanifold of the Grassmannian. The Grassmannian representation as an analytic generative model, informed by a database of physically relevant airfoils, offers (i) a rich set of novel 2D airfoil deformations not previously captured in the data , (ii) improved low-dimensional parameter domain for inferential statistics informing design/manufacturing, and (iii) consistent 3D blade representation and perturbation over a sequence of nominal shapes. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER DEMONSTRATION - COUPLING WITH NREL WISDEM Researchers have integrated the inverse-design tool for 2D airfoils (INN-Airfoil) into WISDEM (Wind Plant Integrated Systems Design and Engineering Model), a multidisciplinary design and optimization framework for assessing the cost of energy, as part of tech-transfer demonstration. The integration of INN-Airfoil into WISDEM allows for the design of airfoils along with the blades that meet the dynamic design constraints on cost of energy, annual energy production, and the capital costs. Through preliminary studies, researchers have shown that the coupled INN-Airfoil + WISDEM approach reduces the cost of energy by around 1% compared to the conventional design approach. This page will serve as a place to easily access all the publications from this work and the repositories for the software developed and released through this pr...

aerodynamics↗

NASA NTRS2009

Performance of MODIS Thermal Emissive Bands On-orbit Calibration Algorithms

Two nearly identical copies of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are currently operated on-board the Terra and Aqua spacecrafts, launched in December 1999 and May 2002, respectively. Together, they have produced an unprecedented amount of science data products, which are widely used for the studies of changes in the Earth's system of land, oceans, and atmosphere. MODIS is a cross-track scanning radiometer, which uses a two-sided scan mirror and collects data continuously over a wide scan angle range (+/-55 degree relative to the instrument nadir) each scan of 1.47 seconds. It has 36 spectral bands with wavelengths ranging from visible (VIS) to long-wave infrared (LWIR). MODIS bands 1-19 and 26 are the reflective solar bands (RSB) and bands 20-25 and 27-36 are the thermal emissive bands (TEB). MODIS was developed and designed with improvements made over its heritage sensors (such as AVHRR and Landsat) and, in particular, with more stringent calibration requirements. Because of this, MODIS was built with a set of state-of-art on-board calibrators (OBC), which include a solar diffuser (SD), a solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM), a blackbody (BB), a spectroradiometric calibration assembly (SRCA), and a space view (SV) port. With the exception of view angle differences, MODIS OBC measurements and the Earth View (EV) observations are made via the same optical path. MODIS TEB have a total of 160 individual TEB detectors (10 per band), which are located on two cold focal plane assemblies (CFPA). For nominal on-orbit operation, the CFPA temperature is controlled at 83K via a passive radiative cooler. For the TEB, the calibration requirements at specified typical scene radiances are less than or equal to 1% with an exception for the fire detection (low gain) band. MODIS TEB on-orbit calibration is performed on a scan-by-scan basis using a quadratic calibration algorithm, and data collected from sensor responses to the onboard BB and SV. The BB serves as the thermal calibration source and the SV provides measurements for the sensor's background and offsets. MODIS on-board BB is a v-grooved plate with its temperature measured using 12 platinum resistive thermistors (PRT) uniformly embedded in the BB substrate. All the BB thermistors were characterized pre-launch with reference to the NIST temperature standards. Unlike typical BB operations in many heritage sensors, which have no temperature control capability, the MODIS on-board BB can be operated at any temperatures between instrument ambient (about 270K) and 315K and can also be varied continuously within this range. This feature has significantly enhanced the MODIS' capability of tracking and updating the TEB nonlinear calibration coefficients over its entire mission. Following a brief description of MODIS TEB on-orbit calibration methodologies and its onboard BB operational activities, this paper provides a comprehensive performance assessment of MODIS TEB quadratic calibration algorithm. It examines the scan-by-scan, orbit-by-orbit, daily, and seasonal variations of detector responses and associated impact due changes in the CFPA and instrument temperatures. Specifically, this paper will analyze the contribution by each individual thermal emissive source term (BB, scan cavity, and scan mirror), the impact on the Level 1 B data product quality due to pre-launch and on-orbit calibration uncertainties. A comparison of Terra and Aqua TEB on-orbit performance, lessons learned, and suggestions for future improvements will also be made.

Xiong, Xiaoxiong↗

NASA NTRS2018

EVA Swab Tool to Support Planetary Protection and Astrobiology Evaluations

When we send humans to search for life on other planets, we'll need to know what we brought with us versus what may already be there. To ensure our crewed systems meet planetary protection requirements?and to protect our science from human contamination?we'll need to assess whether microorganisms may be leaking or venting from our spacecraft. Microbial sample collection outside of a pressurized spacecraft is complicated by temperature extremes, low pressures that preclude the use of laboratory standard (wetted) swabs, and operation either in bulky spacesuits or with robotic assistance. A team at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently developed a swab kit for use in collecting microbial samples from the external surfaces of crewed spacecraft, including spacesuits. The Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Swab Kit consists of a single swab tool handle and an eight-canister sample caddy. The design team minimized development cost by re-purposing a heritage Space Shuttle tile repair handle that was designed to quickly snap into different tool attachments by engaging a mating device in each end effector. This allowed the tool handle to snap onto a fresh swab end effector much like popular shaving razor handles can snap onto a disposable blade cartridge. To disengage the handle from a swab, the user performs two independent functions, which can be done with a single hand. This dual operation mitigates the risk that a swab will be inadvertently released and lost in microgravity. Each swab end effector is fitted with commercially available foam swab tips, vendor-certified to be sterile for Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). A microbial filter installed in the bottom of each sample container allows the container to outgas and re-pressurize without introducing microbial contaminants to internal void spaces. Extensive ground testing, post-test handling, and sample analysis confirmed the design is able to maintain sterile conditions as the canister moves between various pressure environments. To further minimize cost, the design team acquired extensive ground test experience in a relevant flight environment by piggy-backing onto suited crew training runs. These training runs allowed the project to validate tool interfaces with pressurized EVA gloves and collect user feedback on the tool design and function, as well as characterize baseline microbial data for different types of spacesuits. In general, test subjects found the EVA Swab Kit relatively straightforward to operate, but identified a number of design improvements that will be incorporated into the final design. Although originally intended to help characterize human forward contaminants, this tool has other potential applications, such as for collecting and preserving space-exposed materials to support astrobiology experiments.

planetary protection↗

NASA NTRS2018

EVA Swab Tool to Support Planetary Protection and Astrobiology Evaluations

When we send humans to search for life on other planets, we'll need to know what we brought with us versus what may already be there. To ensure our crewed systems meet planetary protection requirements-and to protect our science from human contamination-we'll need to assess whether microorganisms may be leaking or venting from our spacecraft. Microbial sample collection outside of a pressurized spacecraft is complicated by temperature extremes, low pressures that preclude the use of laboratory standard (wetted) swabs, and operation either in bulky spacesuits or with robotic assistance. A team at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently developed a swab kit for use in collecting microbial samples from the external surfaces of crewed spacecraft, including spacesuits. The Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Swab Kit consists of a single swab tool handle and an eight-canister sample caddy. The design team minimized development cost by re-purposing a heritage Space Shuttle tile repair handle that was designed to quickly snap into different tool attachments by engaging a mating device in each end effector. This allowed the tool handle to snap onto a fresh swab end effector much like popular shaving razor handles can snap onto a disposable blade cartridge. To disengage the handle from a swab, the user performs two independent functions, which can be done with a single hand. This dual operation mitigates the risk that a swab will be inadvertently released and lost in microgravity. Each swab end effector is fitted with commercially available foam swab tips, vendor-certified to be sterile for Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). A microbial filter installed in the bottom of each sample container allows the container to outgas and re-pressurize without introducing microbial contaminants to internal void spaces. Extensive ground testing, post-test handling, and sample analysis confirmed the design is able to maintain sterile conditions as the canister moves between various pressure environments. To further minimize cost, the design team acquired extensive ground test experience in a relevant flight environment by piggy-backing onto suited crew training runs. These training runs allowed the project to validate tool interfaces with pressurized EVA gloves and collect user feedback on the tool design and function, as well as characterize baseline microbial data for different types of spacesuits. In general, test subjects found the EVA Swab Kit relatively straightforward to operate, but identified a number of design improvements that will be incorporated into the final design. Although originally intended to help characterize human forward contaminants, this tool has other potential applications, such as for collecting and preserving space-exposed materials to support astrobiology experiments.

Rucker, Michelle A.↗

NASA NTRS2020

Building a standardized Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) framework for Mars

We advocate that the Decadal Survey recommends the NASA Science Mission Directorate to develop a rigorous Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) framework for Mars, to optimize future atmospheric observations. Atmospheric conditions on Mars are a potential hazard source for landing missions. Errors in the estimates of atmospheric density profiles, inadequate knowledge of wind vertical structure and dust concentration as a function of height are likely causes of uncertainty at the landing site on the order of kilometers. An operational real-time weather forecasting capability for Mars would reduce such uncertainties, carrying enormous benefits to future robotic missions, and would be an invaluable prerequisite for human missions.A real-time forecasting capability relies upon three fundamental components: a critical mass of observing systems, a data assimilation system (DAS), and a global forecast model. The DAS allows the model to ingest the data effectively, optimizing the observational information content,and transforming them into a gridded representation of the atmosphere at a given time, called an ‘analysis’. The analysis is the best estimate of the atmospheric state for that time, and also represents a set of ‘initial conditions’ from which a global model can be initialized, to predict a future state of the atmosphere. The connection between analysis and forecast represents the foundation of modern weather forecasting. However, from the point of view of a forecast system,not all observations are equally impactful, partially because of the problem of “observational error correlation”, one important research topic in data assimilation development. For the Earth, partly due to the spontaneous and deregulated development of observations and forecast capabilities worldwide for more than half a century,the use of observations in contemporary operational forecast systems is suboptimal, with many potentially useful data being underutilized. On the contrary, Mars atmospheric scientists are in the unique situation of designing the next-generation observing systems by learning from the experience gathered on the Earth, so as to assure that the future instruments are specifically optimized to give the maximum benefit to a future weather forecast capability.An immensely powerful tool that has been firmly established by atmospheric scientists on the Earth is represented by a properly designed OSSE framework. A realistic OSSE framework cannot only quantify the benefit of future data types, be them surface based or space borne, but can also help design and optimize an entire observational network. Furthermore, OSSEs can provide deep insights into an atmosphere’s behavior, by addressing conceptual problems of its intrinsic predictability and delineating the regions or features of the atmosphere which are more sensitive to additional data and would benefit from a denser sampling. The difficulties posed by OSSEs are fundamentally different for Earth and Mars. For Earth, the enormous data volume imposes a tremendous constraint on any innovation in the observing systems: it is very hard for a single sensor to impact the skill. For Mars, the problem is the opposite: almost any additional instrument will exert some impact. However, OSSEs can help to evaluate the cost/benefit for every sensor and suggest optimal data configuration and density.The purpose of this white paper is to provide an introduction to a rigorously designed OSSE framework, explain the underlying problems and challenges, and engage the Mars community to collaborate with Earth Atmospheric scientists in order to develop a joint-OSSE framework for Mars with the largest consensual basis possible. An OSSE infrastructure would increase the understanding of the Martian atmosphere, would help NASA to optimize instrument specifications and orbit choice, providing the maximium benefit for a given expenditure of resources, and could even help establishing a roadmap for a future real-time weather forecasting capability.

Oreste Reale↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Acquisition of and Access to Research Omics Data

Omics data are essential for understanding the myriad and complex effects of space environments on humans. To assure maximum benefit from these kinds of data, the NASA Human Research Program Data Management Plan stipulates that human omics data should be archived within and accessed through the NASA Life Sciences Portal (NLSP). The NLSP has the capability to acquire and provision access to omics (and other kinds of) research results for individual and ad-hoc groups of subjects at the direction of institutional review boards, or other authorizing bodies or individuals, per institutional, program and investigation-specific policies and procedures. However, because some single-subject omics data, like CT scans and other kinds of large, complex biomedical data, could be used to identify heretofore unknown risks to the subject’s health, or, in certain cases, be used to identify a subject, NASA Policy Directive 7170.1 describes various policies regarding the management of and access to “research genetic testing” data, which includes many kinds of omics data. For example, NPD 7170.1 prohibits access to human research genetic data by NASA personnel who make employment decisions for the subjects from whom the data were obtained. To meet the objective of acquiring research omics data for NLSP in compliance with the policies in NPD 7170.1 and other applicable NASA policies, we designed NOMADS (the NLSP Omics Multimodal Acquisition of Data System), a new component that supports the transfer of large research data files, including research genetic testing data, using one of several different transfer mechanisms. The choice of mechanism is made by the submitter of the data, with guiding information from the system, and is likely to often be determined in large part by the nature and source location of the data. For example, for small files where the source data files are not already stored in a cloud storage system, users are likely to prefer to transfer their data to the NLSP via a web browser. Conversely, for large sets of files already organized and stored in a cloud storage system, users may opt for NOMAD’s cloud-to-cloud transfer method. All omics datasets targeted for the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive must pass a variety of quality checks to ensure data integrity and adherence to the standards defined by the LSDA Data Submission Guidelines (DSG) (see https://nlsp.nasa.gov/explore/lsdahome/datasubmit). These include requirements that data are consistent with open standards established by the omics community. Non-compliant data will not be accepted however archivists are available to advise submitters on how to revise data submissions and re-submit until compliance is achieved. Following compliance with the LSDA DSG, omics data next undergo a variety of additional quality checks to ensure the data meet omics community standards. Domain specific Omics data quality control tools and techniques are continually evolving and linked to the advancements in omics assays utilized and thus, the tools and techniques utilized by the LSDA for data quality control and validation will need to be sustained accordingly. All human omics data will be access controlled according to the policies described above, and requiring IRB approval for any additional access grants once the data are acquired (including access for analysis using the NLSP workspace tools).

Omics↗

NASA NTRS2024

Acquisition of and Access to Research Omics Data

Omics↗

NASA NTRS2019

2018 NISAR Applications Workshop: Forest and Disturbance; Workshop Report

Forest lands cover the globe and are important sources for providing ecosystem services including: carbon sequestration, biodiversity, timber, air and water quality. As such, counties around the world have dedicated programs for managing them. Accurate and timely information concerning the status of these forests (moisture, biomass, disturbance type, etc.) is essential to those Nations’ human and ecological health as well as economy. The joint NASA/US Forest Service workshop focused on arming forest land managers with observations and remote sensing information from the upcoming NASA-ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) (NISAR) satellite mission (expected to launch early 2022). Participants included representatives from different US Federal Agencies, private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGO) that are key players in facilitating integration of Earth Observations (EO) into forest management and decision support workflows. They included scientists, technicians, and program managers with a responsibility for data acquisition and exploitation such as product development, delivery, and use, and capacity building. Discussions were held over two days to convey the broader forest and disturbance community information needs for various representative participants and programs and to facilitate the delivery of NISAR mission geospatial products and observational capabilities. Case studies were presented to demonstrate the current state of practice in the use of SAR remote sensing for applications of direct importance to forest and disturbance land management community. Eleven organizations presented their information requirements in response to a set of questions provided by the NASA team, then the NASA team responded by describing the degree to which NISAR could meet these requirements. Discussion ensued about needed data product specifications to increase utility (e.g., projection, latency, etc.), tools and capacity building. The general findings of this workshop were that (a) NISAR observations will be particularly useful to the global forest carbon and disturbance monitoring applications, but that certain data product design decisions (projections and radiometric and terrain corrections) need to be considered to increase utility; b) the biomass and disturbance detection algorithms meet many of the community needs, however there are other information products of value (e.g., soil moisture or disturbance classification, not just detection) and all products should be compliant with existing community standards for reporting uncertainty; c) providing SAR education to the community will be key specifically thinking about putting the information first and the SAR theory second, providing a simple guide of standard data processing steps (e.g., dB (decibel) to power conversion and speckle filtering); d) the community needs a user-friendly interface for finding free, archived data over their geographic regions of interest; e) user-friendly tools that connect to open-sources GIS (Global Information System) software (e.g., QGIS (Quantum GIS)) that include a graphical user interface (GUI) for SAR processing that enables both download and cloud processing. To integrate these findings and prepare the community before NISAR launches, it was suggested that there be a dedicated NISAR Forest and Disturbance Applications Working Group (as per the specifications in the NISAR Utilization Plan). After launch, it was decided that the community continue capacity building activities.

Stavros, Natasha↗

NASA NTRS2014

Focal Gray Matter Plasticity as a Function of Long Duration Bedrest: Preliminary Results

Long duration spaceflight (i.e., 22 days or longer) has been associated with changes in sensorimotor systems, resulting in difficulties that astronauts experience with posture control, locomotion, and manual control. It is unknown whether and how spaceflight impacts sensorimotor brain structure and function, and whether such changes may potentially underlie behavioral effects. Long duration head down tilt bed rest has been used repeatedly as an exclusionary analog to study microgravity effects on the sensorimotor system [1]. Bed rest mimics microgravity in body unloading and bodily fluid shifts. We are currently testing sensorimotor function, brain structure, and brain function pre and post a 70‐day bed rest period. We will acquire the same measures on NASA crewmembers starting in 2014. Here we present the results of the first eight bed rest subjects. Subjects were assessed at 12 and 7 days before‐, at 7, 30, and ~70 days in‐, and at 8 and 12 days post 70 days of bed rest at the NASA bed rest facility, UTMB, Galveston, TX, USA. At each time point structural MRI scans (i.e., high resolution T1‐weighted imaging and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)) were obtained using a 3T Siemens scanner. Focal changes over time in gray matter density were assessed using the voxel based morphometry 8 (VBM8) toolbox under SPM. Focal changes in white matter microstructural integrity were assessed using tract based spatial statistics (TBSS) as part of the FMRIB software library (FSL). TBSS registers all DTI scans to standard space. It subsequently creates a study specific white matter skeleton of the major white matter tracts. Non‐parametric permutation based t‐tests and ANOVA's were used for voxel‐wise comparison of the skeletons. For both VBM and TBSS, comparison of the two pre bed rest measurements did not show significant differences. VBM analysis revealed decreased gray matter density in bilateral areas including the frontal medial cortex, the insular cortex and the caudate nucleus from pre to in bed rest. Over the same time period, there was an increase in gray matter density in the cerebellum, occipital, and parietal cortices. The majority of these changes did not recover from during to post bed rest. TBSS analyses will also be presented. Extended bed rest, which is an analog for microgravity, can result in gray matter changes and potentially in microstructural white matter changes in areas that are important for neuromotor behavior and cognition. These changes did not recover at two weeks post bed rest. These results have significant public health implications, and will also aid in interpretation of our future data obtained pre and post spaceflight. Whether the effects of bed rest wear off at longer times post bed rest, and if they are associated with behavior are important questions that warrant further research.

Koppelmans, V.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Warped and Hooked: Mapping the Magellanic Clouds in Three Dimensions Using Red Clump Stars

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) are the Milky Way’s nearest interacting galaxy pair, offering a unique laboratory for studying tidal effects on galactic disks. Despite extensive survey efforts, the 3D geometry of the Magellanic Clouds, particularly the putative warp of the LMC, remains poorly constrained due to incompleteness in their crowded centers and the low stellar density of their peripheries, which demand wide-field coverage. Using red clump (RC) stars as standard candles, corrected for age- and metallicity-dependent population effects with empirically calibrated color–magnitude relations and spatially resolved star formation histories, we construct the most detailed distance map of the Magellanic system to date. Based on ∼2.3 million RC stars from Gaia Data Release 3 combined with modern reddening maps, we measure median heliocentric distances of 50.62 ± 2.32 kpc for the LMC (to ∼23°) and 60.75 ± 2.85 kpc for the SMC (to ∼12°). The maps reveal substructures including the LMC Northern Arm, southern hooks, the Magellanic Bridge, and SMC peripheral overdensities, with refreshed distance estimates. Fitting the LMC disk within 7° yields a global inclination of $i=25\mathop{.}\limits^{^\circ }32\pm 0\mathop{.}\limits^{^\circ }10$ and a line-of-nodes position angle of $\theta = 142\mathop{.}\limits^{^\circ }34\pm 0\mathop{.}\limits^{^\circ }21$. Most strikingly, we find the LMC periphery is warped azimuthally into a U-shaped structure reaching a vertical amplitude of ∼7 kpc at a radius of ∼15 kpc. In future work, we will perform detailed comparisons with live N-body simulations to assess possible formation scenarios for the LMC warp.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS2017

Improving Satellite Compatible Microdevices to Study Biology in Space

The technology for biology in space lags far behind the gold standard for biological experiments on Earth. To remedy this disparity, the Rothschild lab works on proof of concept, prototyping, and developing of new sensors and devices to further the capabilities of biology research on satellites. One such device is the PowerCell Payload System. One goal for synthetic biology in aiding space travel and colonization is to genetically engineer living cells to produce biochemicals in space. However, such farming in space presupposes bacteria retain their functionality post-launch, bombarded by radiation, and without the 1G of Earth. Our questions is, does a co-culture of cyanobacteria and protein-synthesizing bacteria produce Earth-like yields of target proteins? Is the yield sensitive to variable gravitational forces? To answer these questions, a PowerCell Payload System will spend 1 year aboard the German Aerospace Center's Euglena and Combined Regenerative Organic-food Production In Space (Eu:CROPIS) mission satellite. The PowerCell system is a pair of two 48-well microfluidic cards, each well seeded with bacteria. The system integrates fluidic, thermal, optical, electronic, and control systems to germinate bacteria spores, then measure the protein synthesized for comparison to parallel experiments conducted on the Earth. In developing the PowerCell Payload, we gained insight into the shortcomings of biology experiments on satellites. To address these issues, we have started three new prototyping projects: 1) The development of an extremely stable and radiation resistant cell-free system, allowing for the construction of proteins utilizing only cell components instead of living cells. This can be lyophilized on a substrate, like paper. (2) Using paper as a microfluidic platform that is flexible, stable, cheap, and wicking. The capillary action eliminates the need for pumps, reducing volume, mass, and potential failing points. Electrodes can be printed on the paper to sense for biochemicals. (3) Developing a modular, semi-autonomous microfluidic device that can be easily adapted for a variety of common biological experiments. This versatility will allow for quicker and cheaper experimentation. These improvements to satellite experiment platforms have the potential to radically increase the return from NASA's biological and field studies with reduced development time, mass, and cost with increased robustness data and interpretation.

biology in spac↗

NASA NTRS2023

Safety Case for Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (sUAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Operations at NASA Langley Research Center

This Technical Memorandum (TM) is written to provide for dissemination of the methods and safety considerations for operations of small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (sUAS) Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS)at NASA Langley Research Center. It includes the Safety Case used to acquire a BVLOS Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the FAA and is being published to enable others to benefit from this work. The intended operations, subject to approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will include a combination of Within Visual Line of Sight (WVLOS) and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights, comprising of at most five sUAS operating concurrently, with no more than three operating BVLOS. Flights will occur in a subset of the Langley Air Force Base (LAFB) Class D airspace (KLFI) at a maximum altitude of 400 ft AGL. Most operations within this subset will take place in the City Environment Range Testing for Autonomous Integrated Navigation (CERTAIN) Range. The CERTAIN Range includes airspace inside the borders of NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). Additional airspace over the northern section of CERTAIN will be requested as part of the Certificate of Authorization (COA). NASA LaRC BVLOS operations on the CERTAIN Range can be broken down into five critical components needed to meet the 14 CFR § 91.113 see and avoid requirement: 1) procedural deconfliction with LAFB for UAS operations at or below 400 ft and manned aircraft at or above 900’ AGL; 2) ground equipment for detection of intruder aircraft and to support communications between crewmembers ; 3) sUAS vehicles with advanced onboard automation capable of autonomously maintaining safe separation; 4) BVLOS standardized operating procedures (SOPs); 5) and personnel to execute the flight operations in accordance with the SOPs and respond to airborne contingencies. The introduction of new ground equipment includes the use of the Remote Operations for Autonomous Missions (ROAM) UAS Operations Center, development and use of an Integrated Airspace Display (IAD), use of the L-STAR and GA-9120 radars, and the incorporation of standardized Vertiports. The ROAM Operations Center will be the central point for all BVLOS sUAS operations. All command and control (C2), voice communications and airspace awareness displays will reside inside ROAM. The IAD will provide raw data from ADS-B, FLARM, radar tracks and telemetered GPS vehicle positions for interpretation by an Airspace Monitor. The radars will search the class D airspace around the CERTAIN Range and serve as a backup to procedural deconfliction procedures coordinated with LAFB. In the event of a procedural deconfliction breakdown, radar detections of non-participating aircraft will be available so that the 91.113 see and avoid requirement can still be safely met. Finally, the incorporation of Vertiports will have video and network connectivity that enables large numbers of sUAS launches and recoveries from a single location. This is a continuation of the remote command and control of unpiloted aircraft component focused on evaluating unpiloted aircraft flight crew roles and responsibilities, control interfaces and the associated data links needed to operate a fleet of aircraft within a UAM Ecosystem. This work supports the development of future aviation operational concepts based on an Urban Air Mobility Maturity Level (UML) 4 environment (Patterson, 2020). It is assumed that future airspace will include hundreds of simultaneous aircraft operations within the airspace, therefore scalable operations are essential for enabling this future airspace to become a reality. Follow on work includes envisioned flights that expand operations beyond the CERTAIN range and lead to an effective Maritime Surveillance capability.

Matthew W Coldsnow↗

NASA NTRS2008

Ares I and Ares V First Stage - Powering Exploration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ares Projects Office (APO) is continuing to make progress toward the final design of the first stage propulsion system for the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. Ares I and Ares V will provide the space launch capabilities needed to fulfill NASA' s exploration strategy of sending human beings to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. As primary propulsion for the Ares launch vehicles, the Space Shuttle-derived Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) is one of the first and most important components to be tested. The first flight of Ares I, called Ares I-X, will occur in April 2009, with booster integration to begin at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) by autumn 2008. The Ares I-X flight will use a combination of flight and simulation hardware to obtain data on controlling the long and narrow crew launch vehicle configuration. The test will use a four-segment RSRM from the Shuttle inventory and a fifth spacer segment to simulate the size and weight of the operational five-segment motor to be used on later flights. The upper stage, Orion crew exploration vehicle, and launch abort system will all be replaced with simulator hardware. Manufacturing work has begun on the spacer segment, as well as the new forward hardware for the booster. Atlas V avionics will be adapted to control Ares I-X' s first stage. That hardware is undergoing hardware-in-the-loop testing in a contractor-provided systems integration laboratory (SIL); a critical design review (CDR) was completed in December 2007. Drogue and main parachute drop tests have also been conducted successfully at Yuma Proving Grounds, allowing the First Stage team to begin fabricating parachutes for Ares I-X. The Ares I-X flight test will be the first flight test for the parachutes. A series of preliminary design technical interchange meetings is being conducted prior to the Ares I-X CDR in January 2007 to ensure readiness for the flight. Much of the First Stage activity in 2007 has focused on a series of preliminary design (PDR) activities associated with each booster subsystem. These events will culminate in a formal preliminary design review in 2008, where subsystems and component specifications will be developed and associated analyses and drawings will be evaluated for technical adequacy. The first stage also has been undergoing a series of trade studies to determine means for upgrading booster performance and reducing operational costs. Performance improvement studies have included changing from polybutadiene acrylonitrile (PBAN) propellant to hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB); replacing aluminum with composite motor casings; and optimizing or upgrading the propellant grain and nozzle structures. Some or all of these changes could result in a block upgrade to the Ares I first stage, after becoming the standard configuration for the Ares V. The cost reduction studies included a change from reusable or recoverable boosters to completely expendable boosters; changing from hydrazine-powered to more environmentally friendly electrohydrostatic actuators (EHAs) on the thrust vector control (TVC) system; and changing the location of the separation plane to reduce the likelihood of recontact upon booster separation. The expendability trade study resulted in a decision to keep the recoverable boosters, as the new hardware costs significantly outweighed the potential operational cost savings due to reduced ground operations. Likewise, due to cost considerations, the team continued using existing hydrazine-powered actuators for the TVC system. The separation plane location for Ares I is still being studied, with results to be announced in 2008. In short, the Ares launch vehicles' first stage is building upon NASA's close familiarity with this Shuttle-derived system, while continuing to seek out improvements for long-term exploration.

Priskos, Alex S.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Flying Unmanned Aircraft: A Pilot's Perspective

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is pioneering various Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) technologies and procedures which may enable routine access to the National Airspace System (NAS), with an aim for Next Gen NAS. These tools will aid in the development of technologies and integrated capabilities that will enable high value missions for science, security, and defense, and open the door to low-cost, extreme-duration, stratospheric flight. A century of aviation evolution has resulted in accepted standards and best practices in the design of human-machine interfaces, the displays and controls of which serve to optimize safe and efficient flight operations and situational awareness. The current proliferation of non-standard, aircraft-specific flight crew interfaces in UAS, coupled with the inherent limitations of operating UAS without in-situ sensory input and feedback (aural, visual, and vestibular cues), has increased the risk of mishaps associated with the design of the "cockpit." The examples of current non- or sub- standard design features range from "annoying" and "inefficient", to those that are difficult to manipulate or interpret in a timely manner, as well as to those that are "burdensome" and "unsafe." A concerted effort is required to establish best practices and standards for the human-machine interfaces, for the pilot as well as the air traffic controller. In addition, roles, responsibilities, knowledge, and skill sets are subject to redefining the terms, "pilot" and "air traffic controller", with respect to operating UAS, especially in the Next-Gen NAS. The knowledge, skill sets, training, and qualification standards for UAS operations must be established, and reflect the aircraft-specific human-machine interfaces and control methods. NASA s recent experiences flying its MQ-9 Ikhana in the NAS for extended duration, has enabled both NASA and the FAA to realize the full potential for UAS, as well as understand the implications of current limitations. Ikhana is a Predator-B/Reaper UAS, built by General Atomics, Aeronautical Systems, Inc., and modified for research. Since 2007, the aircraft has been flown seasonally with a wing-mounted pod containing an infrared scanner, utilized to provide real-time wildfire geo-location data to various fire-fighting agencies in the western U.S. The multi-agency effort included an extensive process to obtain flight clearance from the FAA to operate under special provisions, given that UAS in general do not fully comply with current airspace regulations (e.g. sense-and-avoid requirements).

Pestana, Mark E.↗

NASA NTRS2011

NASA Accident Precursor Analysis Handbook, Version 1.0

Catastrophic accidents are usually preceded by precursory events that, although observable, are not recognized as harbingers of a tragedy until after the fact. In the nuclear industry, the Three Mile Island accident was preceded by at least two events portending the potential for severe consequences from an underappreciated causal mechanism. Anomalies whose failure mechanisms were integral to the losses of Space Transportation Systems (STS) Challenger and Columbia had been occurring within the STS fleet prior to those accidents. Both the Rogers Commission Report and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report found that processes in place at the time did not respond to the prior anomalies in a way that shed light on their true risk implications. This includes the concern that, in the words of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), "no process addresses the need to update a hazard analysis when anomalies occur" At a broader level, the ASAP noted in 2007 that NASA "could better gauge the likelihood of losses by developing leading indicators, rather than continue to depend on lagging indicators". These observations suggest a need to revalidate prior assumptions and conclusions of existing safety (and reliability) analyses, as well as to consider the potential for previously unrecognized accident scenarios, when unexpected or otherwise undesired behaviors of the system are observed. This need is also discussed in NASA's system safety handbook, which advocates a view of safety assurance as driving a program to take steps that are necessary to establish and maintain a valid and credible argument for the safety of its missions. It is the premise of this handbook that making cases for safety more experience-based allows NASA to be better informed about the safety performance of its systems, and will ultimately help it to manage safety in a more effective manner. The APA process described in this handbook provides a systematic means of analyzing candidate accident precursors by evaluating anomaly occurrences for their system safety implications and, through both analytical and deliberative methods used to project to other circumstances, identifying those that portend more serious consequences to come if effective corrective action is not taken. APA builds upon existing safety analysis processes currently in practice within NASA, leveraging their results to provide an improved understanding of overall system risk. As such, APA represents an important dimension of safety evaluation; as operational experience is acquired, precursor information is generated such that it can be fed back into system safety analyses to risk-inform safety improvements. Importantly, APA utilizes anomaly data to predict risk whereas standard reliability and PRA approaches utilize failure data which often is limited and rare.

Groen, Frank↗

NASA NTRS2000

Stardust Navigation Covariance Analysis

The Stardust spacecraft was launched on February 7, 1999 aboard a Boeing Delta-II rocket. Mission participants include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Lockheed Martin Astronautics (LMA) and the University of Washington. The primary objective of the mission is to collect in-situ samples of the coma of comet Wild-2 and return those samples to the Earth for analysis. Mission design and operational navigation for Stardust is performed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This paper will describe the extensive JPL effort in support of the Stardust pre-launch analysis of the orbit determination component of the mission covariance study. A description of the mission and it's trajectory will be provided first, followed by a discussion of the covariance procedure and models. Predicted accuracy's will be examined as they relate to navigation delivery requirements for specific critical events during the mission. Stardust was launched into a heliocentric trajectory in early 1999. It will perform an Earth Gravity Assist (EGA) on January 15, 2001 to acquire an orbit for the eventual rendezvous with comet Wild-2. The spacecraft will fly through the coma (atmosphere) on the dayside of Wild-2 on January 2, 2004. At that time samples will be obtained using an aerogel collector. After the comet encounter Stardust will return to Earth when the Sample Return Capsule (SRC) will separate and land at the Utah Test Site (UTTR) on January 15, 2006. The spacecraft will however be deflected off into a heliocentric orbit. The mission is divided into three phases for the covariance analysis. They are 1) Launch to EGA, 2) EGA to Wild-2 encounter and 3) Wild-2 encounter to Earth reentry. Orbit determination assumptions for each phase are provided. These include estimated and consider parameters and their associated a-priori uncertainties. Major perturbations to the trajectory include 19 deterministic and statistical maneuvers planned for the mission. The spacecraft is three axis stabilized and has unbalanced thrusters for attitude control. Accelerations due to the attitude control system are treated stochastically. The tracking scenario for the study is patterned after the actual schedule employed during the different phases of the mission. Conventional X-band two-way Doppler and SRA range data was simulated and the standard accuracy for these data types was assumed throughout most of the mission. However, a deweighting scheme was used for the Doppler data during times of low Sun-Earth-Probe angles, especially in the case of the DSM. Optical data is assumed to be available starting at 50 days prior to the comet encounter. The optical data will be used to improve the ephemeris of Wild-2, which is considered crucial to properly target the comet flyby. Results of the covariance analysis are presented for all mission phases. Navigation capability will be discussed in terms of the uncertainty in the encounter B-Plane (B.R and B.T) and linearized time of flight. Delivery errors based on the final maneuver prior to the comet encounter will be presented. The most stringent navigation requirement is for the Earth reentry. The uncertainty in the flight path angle must be less than 0.02 degree (orbit determination and maneuver performance) to assure successful recovery of the SRC. Results presented show that this requirement can be met.

Menon, Premkumar R.↗

NASA NTRS1999

NASA Microgravity Combustion Science Program

Combustion has been a subject of increasingly vigorous scientific research for over a century, not surprising considering that combustion accounts for approximately 85% of the world's energy production and is a key element of many critical technologies used by contemporary society. Although combustion technology is vital to our standard of living, it also poses great challenges to maintaining a habitable environment. A major goal of combustion research is production of fundamental (foundational) knowledge that can be used in developing accurate simulations of complex combustion processes, replacing current "cut-and-try" approaches and allowing developers to improve the efficiency of combustion devices, to reduce the production of harmful emissions, and to reduce the incidence of accidental uncontrolled combustion. With full understanding of the physics and chemistry involved in a given combustion process, including details of the unit processes and their interactions, physically accurate models which can then be used for parametric exploration of new combustion domains via computer simulation can be developed, with possible resultant definition of radically different approaches to accomplishment of various combustion goals. Effects of gravitational forces on earth impede combustion studies more than they impede most other areas of science. The effects of buoyancy are so ubiquitous that we often do not appreciate the enormous negative impact that they have had on the rational development of combustion science. Microgravity offers potential for major gains in combustion science understanding in that it offers unique capability to establish the flow environment rather than having it dominated by uncontrollable (under normal gravity) buoyancy effects and, through this control, to extend the range of test conditions that can be studied. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that our program is dedicated to taking advantage of microgravity to untangle complications caused by gravity, allowing major strides in our understanding of combustion processes and in subsequent development of improved combustion devices leading to improved quality of life on Earth. Fire and/or explosion events aboard spacecraft could be devastating to international efforts to expand the human presence in space. Testing to date has shown that ignition and flame spread on fuel surfaces (e.g., paper, wire insulation) behave quite differently under partial gravity and microgravity conditions. In addition, fire signatures-i.e., heat release, smoke production, flame visibility, and radiation-are now known to be quite different in reduced gravity environments; this research has provided data to improve the effectiveness of fire prevention practices, smoke and fire detectors, and fire extinguishment systems. The more we can apply our scientific and technological understanding to potential fire behavior in microgravity and partial gravity, the more assurance can be given to those people whose lives depend on the environment aboard spacecraft or eventually on habitats on the Moon or Mars.

King, Merrill K.↗