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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2017

Pisgah Lava Cave Communication Test: Science Case Study for the Networked Constellations Initiative

As part of the science case study for the Networked Constellations initiative, a team of JPL scientists explore the possibility of a mission to study the lava caves on Mars. Natural caves on Mars and the Moon present a unique opportunity to learn about the planetary geology and to provide a shelter for human explorers. Due to power and communication challenges, a network of assets has significant advantages over a single asset sent inside a cave. However, communication between the assets and the data downlink present significant difficulties due to the presence of rough walls, boulders, and other obstacles with unknown dielectric constant inside a typical cave, disturbing the propagation of the radio waves. A detailed study is needed to establish the limitations of the current communication technologies and to develop requirements for the new communication technology applicable to the cave environment. On May 4 of 2017, Konstantin Belov, Doug Ellison, and Abby Fraeman visited a lava cave in Pisgah, CA. The purpose of the visit was to build a 3D map of the cave, which could be used to create a model of radio wave propagation, and to conduct a series of communication tests using off-the-shelf equipment to verify the in-cave communication challenges. This experiment should be considered as a simple 'proof of concept' and is the subject of this report.

Belov, K.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Optical Component Performance for the Ocean Radiometer for Carbon Assessment (ORCA)

The Ocean Radiometer for Carbon Assessment (ORCA) is a new design for the next generation remote sensing of ocean biology and biogeochemistry. ORCA is configured to meet all the measurement requirements of the Decadal Survey Aerosol, Cloud, and Ecology (ACE), the Ocean Ecosystem (OES) radiometer and the Pro-ACE climate data continuity mission (PACE). Under the auspices of a 2007 grant from NASA Research Opportunity in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) and the Instrument Incubator Program (IIP), a team at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has been working on a functional prototype with flight-like fore and aft optics and scan mechanisms. As part of the development efforts to bring ORCA closer to a flight configuration and in order to reduce cost, we have conducted component-level optical testing using standard spectrophotometers and system-level characterizations using non-flight commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) focal plane array detectors. Although these arrays would not be able to handle flight data rates, they are adequate for optical alignment and performance testing. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the results of this testing performed at GSFC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the component and system level. Specifically, we show results for ORCA's spectral calibration ranging from the near UV, visible, and near-infrared spectral region.

Quijada, Manuel A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Storage of Physical Sample Metadata in the Astrobiology Habitable Environments Database (AHED)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has begun an effort to store, curate, and publish information about physical samples collected and analyzed in conjunction with NASA-funded astrobiology research. Astrobiology is a multidisciplinary area of scientific research being conducted by collaborating teams of biologists, chemists, geologists, atmospheric scientists, oceanographers, astrophysicists, astronomers, and other specialists. Astrobiology studies the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the Universe. NASA uses the results of astrobiology research to focus its future missions on targets of opportunity for the discovery of life off Earth. Astrobiology researchers conduct both field-based and laboratory-based research, during which physical samples are collected, processed, and catalogued. The cataloguing practices employed by different teams of astrobiologists vary widely, and there are no specific standards available to guide the collection and recording of astrobiology sample data. The disparity in data collection approaches and the lack of a centralized sample repository makes it difficult for astrobiology teams to share data and benefit from resultant synergies.To facilitate data sharing within the astrobiology community, NASA is developing a prototype database the Astrobiology Habitable Environments Database (AHED) and an associated set of data collection templates. The database will store information about samples, along with associated measurements and analyses, including information about biological cultures enriched or isolated from samples, and the results of analyses performed on the samples (e.g., via spectrography, microscopy, etc.). In addition, the system will store contextual information about field sites where samples were collected, the instruments or equipment used for analysis, and people and institutions involved in their collection. AHED is being implemented on top of Open Data Repository's Data Publisher [1], an open source software platform for the publication of scientific datasets. The data collection templates under development represent an initial attempt to propose a set of metadata for capture and storage within AHED. The design of these templates is being conducted by a consolidated group of astrobiologists from active research teams at NASA Ames Research Center, assisted by data science and software engineering specialists. These initial templates must be vetted with the broader astrobiology community through a defined process to ensure that they meet community needs. Each template captures a different type of data collection record. For each template, we are developing a list of fields to be captured, including a set of required entry fields, a set of recommended but optional fields, and a set of discretionary fields. A datatype selected from a variety of text and numeric types is specified for each field. Included is a 'choice' type that restricts user input to an enumerated list of values. Many of the fields and field values capture information of particular interest to the astrobiology community, and are intended to facilitate search and retrieval of relevant data across multiple datasets.

Keller, Rich↗
NASA NTRS2019

OP3 NASA JAXA Rodent Research Collaboration Opportunities

Space Biology and Human Research Projects Integrated Proposal to use the JAXA MARS facility to be presented to JAXA and JAXA investigator audience at JAXA Kibo Utilization Symposium and OP3 negotiation for 2019 ISS rodent mission. Slides present a pictorial overview of the proposed science and analysis techniques desired from the US investigator team. Prior published data form a recent collaboration with JAXA is also mentioned.

JAXA Rodent Mouse Habitat Unit↗
NASA NTRS2020

Compass Final Report: Venus Bridge Orbiter and Surface Study (V-BOSS)

The Venus Bridge Orbiter and Surface Study (V-BOSS) Compass concurrent engineering design team study shows that new, high-priority Venus science can be achieved using a linked Orbiter + Surface Element (Lander) mission concept within a $200M cost cap with assumptions. This is feasible through optimizing investment in early technologies and platforms, such as the Long-Lived In-Situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE), leveraging known and flight-ready technology, and the overall use of simple, small, robust systems in innovative approaches to Venus exploration. This architecture allows a range of science investigations through modification of Orbiter-Lander platforms in this study through choice of other instruments (often sensors), science themes, or operational modes. In particular, a fundamental strength of this approach is to provide science not available in other ways by using simplified architectures including rugged systems operable in-situ on the Venus surface. Such investigations would be pathfinders for more complex, and more expensive, future missions. Additionally, the results of this study can be used to further champion the need, value and return of early investment technology programs for the hard problem of in-situ investigations at Venus.

Venus Bridge↗
NASA NTRS2010

Report of the 1st SMAP Applications Workshop

The NASA Earth Science Division has made a commitment to “discover and demonstrate applications that inform resource management, policy development and decision making” (NASA Earth Science Division Applied Sciences Program, Program Strategy, 2010–2015). The NASA mission teams have the opportunity to take a lead role in meeting this challenge. A primary goal of the SMAP mission is to engage SMAP end users and build broad support for SMAP applications through a transparent and inclusive process. Toward this goal, the SMAP mission formed an open-community SMAP Applications Working Group (ApplWG) with over 150 members. The ApplWG held the first SMAP Applications Workshop on September 9–10, 2009, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Silver Spring, Maryland. Workshop attendees represented state and federal agencies, operational centers focused on natural hazards and disasters, international organizations, and academia. Introductory speakers from NOAA, US Geological Survey (USGS), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Environment Canada, and US Department of Defense (DoD) addressed applications that included floods and droughts, early famine warning, crop assessments, human health, and defense.

O’Neill, P.↗
NASA NTRS2005

JIMO follow-on mission studies

Team Prometheus is a geographically-distributed, collaborative engineering team composed of representatives from several NASA centers and the Department of Energy (DOE). During the months of April through September 2004, Team Prometheus performed studies of representative Saturn/Titan and Neptune/Triton science missions based on proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) technology. The principal objectives of these studies were: 1) to assess the feasibility of using direct copies of the baseline JIMO flight system designs to perform these follow-on missions, and 2) to identify and assess technologies or potential enhancements or alterations to the baseline JIMO designs which could reduce the cruise durations to meet NASA Headquarters-specified programmatic goals. A tertiary objective was to provide feedback to the JlMO Project on the suitability of the JIMO reference designs for potential follow-on applications

Satter, Celeste M.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Keck interferometer update

The Keck Interferometer is a NASA-funded joint development between JPL and the W. M. Keck Observatory. The first phase of the project combines the two 10-m Keck Telescopes for high sensitivity near-infrared fringe visibility measurements, nulling interferometry at 10 pm to measure the quantity of exozodiacal emission around nearby stars, and differential-phase measurements to detect hot Jupiters by their direct emission. First fringes with the interferometer were obtained in March 200 1 using the two Kecks with their A 0 systems. Subsequent engineering work been focusedtoward the visibility mode in the areas of improving sensitivity, increasing automation, and adding functionality, in preparation for the high-precision modes. Recently four shared-risk teams were selected by NASA to participate in early science observations, and initial shared-risk science observations have begun.

Keck↗
NASA NTRS2019

SmallSat aerocapture to enable a new paradigm of planetay missions

This paper presents a technology development initiative focused on delivering SmallSats to orbit a variety of bodies using aerocapture. Aerocapture uses the drag of a single pass through the atmosphere to capture into orbit instead of relying on large quantities of rocket fuel. Using drag modulation flight control, an aerocapture vehicle adjusts its drag area during atmospheric flight through a single-stage jettison of a drag skirt, allowing it to target a particular science orbit in the presence of atmospheric uncertainties. A team from JPL, NASA Ames, and CU Boulder has worked to address the key challenges and determine the feasibility of an aerocapture system for SmallSats less than 180kg. Key challenges include the ability to accurately target an orbit, stability through atmospheric flight and the jettison event, and aerothermal stresses due to high heat rates.

Roelke, Evan↗
DOE OSTI2020

Team Dynamics and Development in Chemical Emergency Response

This presentation is focused on Team Dynamics and Development in Chemical Emergency Response. While regulatory requirements focus on defining the performance requirements associated with this category of response team, there is very little information and guidance provided to team leaders on the criticality of team dynamics of development in performance. These elements are essential to achieving successfully integrated team operations. NREL has worked to expand chemical response team participation to include operational personnel from research, support operations, and various technical areas. Since this team expansion has encompassed integration from numerous levels and areas within the organization, a systematic approach was adopted to better understand how organization culture, dynamics, and diversity can be used to be more effective. Benchmarking other organizations and reviewing relevant literature assisted in laying the foundation to develop a strategy that incorporates team development principles, dynamics, and leadership practices to increase the effectiveness of emergency response operations. This presentation focuses on the valuable lessons learned and the team-based approaches that can be used to develop a successful response team.

emergency response↗
NASA NTRS2011

Cassini Attitude Control Operations - Guidelines Levied on Science to Extend Reaction Wheel Life

The Cassini spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997 and arrived at Saturn on June 30, 2004. It has performed detailed observations and remote sensing of Saturn, its rings, and its satellites since that time. Cassini deployed the European-built Huygens probe, which descended through the Titan atmosphere (Saturn's largest moon) and landed on its surface on January 14, 2005. The Cassini mission has recently been approved by NASA to continue through September of 2017. This 7-year extension is called the Solstice mission and it presents challenges to the spacecraft operations team and its ability to maintain the health of the spacecraft. To keep the spacecraft healthy for 7 more years, the spacecraft team must carefully manage hydrazine use (about 48% of the 132 kg launch load remains as of January 2011). A vital part of conserving hydrazine is to use the reaction wheel assembly (RWA) control system for precise pointing and slews wherever possible. In any given week, the Cassini spacecraft is commanded to use RWA control about 99% of the time, with about 1% of the time requiring reaction control system (RCS) thruster control (to perform Delta V course corrections or to bias the RWA momentum). Such extensive use of the RWA hardware throughout the mission requires that the RWAs be operated in a way that minimizes degradation in the RWA electronics, DC motor, and spin bearing for each reaction wheel. Three consumables in particular have been identified for the RWAs: (1) Total number of revolutions for each RWA. (2) Time spent at very low wheel speeds. At these low speeds, good elasto-hydrodynamic (EHD) film lubrication may be compromised. (3) Total number of on/off power cycles. The second of these consumables, minimizing the time spent at very low wheel speeds, is especially important to keep the spin bearing healthy and well-lubricated. These consumables are actively managed by the attitude control operations team throughout the mission. One vital management technique is to predict individual RWA momentum (given the pointing and slews that are needed to collect the best science) and to bias the RWA momentum in a way that reduces both the total number of revolutions as well as the time spent below EHD wheel speed. Another strategy to protect RWA health is to alter the planned pointing of the spacecraft (which can affect science collection) so that the RWA consumables are conserved. This paper focuses on why this second technique is needed, and discusses how guidelines have been developed by the attitude control team which affects the planned science pointing, so that science data can be most optimally collected while still minimizing RWA consumable usage.

interplanetary trajectory↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Bringing Research to New Heights: How CASEI Integrates Data Curation, Discovery, and Education in Earth and Atmospheric Science

A challenging aspect of any project is finding all the relevant data and information needed to address the research objective. Searching for data and its contextual metadata can become overwhelming for both undergraduate and graduate students, potentially hindering their work and affecting the scientific discoveries that could be made in the long run. To ease this, the NASA Airborne Data Management Group (ADMG), part of the Interagency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team (IMPACT), has developed the new Catalog of Archived Suborbital Earth science Investigations (CASEI). CASEI includes a web portal that users, be they professionals or students, can use to search, browse, discover, and locate relevant observations associated with NASA’s airborne and field campaigns. Users are able to query data in a variety of ways (via keywords, locations, timeframe, etc) from one online portal, minimizing the amount of time needed to search. CASEI also allows access to key contextual metadata and data from a wide array of Earth and Atmospheric Science topics such as aerosols and boundary layer processes, as well as ice and glacial properties or processes. Users are able to access the data via DOI links to data set landing pages. This presentation will demonstrate how CASEI can be used for classwork and student research. Teachers can provide CASEI to their students as a tool for their studies, or use it to find data themselves while constructing their curriculums. Additionally, users can leverage CASEI to learn about NASA’s Earth and Atmospheric Science research efforts and to find data relevant for assignments or other research projects. The metadata in CASEI has been carefully curated, and highlights important information about the campaigns and their data. Students can explore and learn about the scientific objectives of the campaigns, as well as descriptions of the campaign’s best research days. Having access to contextual metadata in an easy to understand way can help plant the seeds of new ideas in students at any point in their academic journey. From class projects to theses/dissertations and other research, CASEI is a valuable emerging tool for data discovery, giving access to all users and guiding researchers to NASA’s unique airborne data to answer the burning Earth Science questions of our time.

education↗
NASA NTRS2006

Science Planning for the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), launched on August 12, 2005, carries six science instruments, each with unique requirements for repetitive global monitoring, regional or global survey mapping, and/or targeted observations of Mars. Some prefer nadir-only observations, while other instruments require many off-nadir observations (especially for stereo viewing). Because the operations requirements are often incompatible, an interactive science planning process has been developed. This process is more complex than in some recent NASA Mars missions, but less complex (and more repetitive) than processes used by many large planetary missions. It takes full advantage of MRO's novel onboard processing capabilities, and uses simple electronic interactions between geographically distributed teams. This paper describes the process used during MRO's Primary Science Phase (PSP) to plan both interactive and non-interactive observations of Mars, and what has already been learned in the tests and rehearsals preparing for PSP.

planning↗
NASA NTRS2007

The NASA Earth Research-2 (ER-2) Aircraft: A Flying Laboratory for Earth Science Studies

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, has two Lockheed Martin Corporation (Bethesda, Maryland) Earth Research-2 (ER2) aircraft that serve as high-altitude and long-range flying laboratories. The ER-2 aircraft has been successfully utilized to conduct scientific studies of stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry, land-use mapping, disaster assessment, preliminary testing and calibration and validation of satellite sensors. The research missions for the ER-2 aircraft are planned, implemented, and managed by the Dryden Flight Research Center Science Mission Directorate. Maintenance and instrument payload integration is conducted by Dryden personnel. The ER-2 aircraft provides experimenters with a wide array of payload accommodations areas with suitable environment control with required electrical and mechanical interfaces. Missions may be flown out of Dryden or from remote bases worldwide, according to research requirements. The NASA ER-2 aircraft is utilized by a variety of customers, including U.S. Government agencies, civilian organizations, universities, and state governments. The combination of the ER-2 aircraft s range, endurance, altitude, payload power, payload volume and payload weight capabilities complemented by a trained maintenance and operations team provides an excellent and unique platform system to the science community and other customers.

Navarro, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2002

Pittsburgh Public School District / Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Team Participation in the US First Competition

FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an international program designed to encourage junior and senior high school students to participate in science and technology related activities. FIRST attempts to increase enthusiasm for technology by providing a competitive environment in which to demonstrate robotics technology designed for a particular set of tasks. Carnegie Mellon University provided student members of the project the opportunity to complete the design, construction, testing, and operation of a robot. Electrical, mechanical, and programming skills were stressed, with both adult and senior students acting as mentors for more junior members. Teamwork and integration was also stressed in order to provide students with a realistic feel for project-based work. Finally, an emphasis was placed on recruiting students with greater difficulty in entering technological fields: girls and ethnic minorities and students leaning toward humanities (especially art). Carnegie Mellon built a relationship with Taylor Allderdice High School that lasted four years. For four years, the success of the project increased each year. Each term, the students successfully designed and built a working robot that could fully participate in the competition. The enthusiasm of the students has been the cornerstone of the recruit of new students, keeping the project growing and vital. Carnegie Mellon's participation with Allderdice has been an overall great success.

Stroupe, Ashley↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Future of Building Science Education with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon: Preprint

Experience the future of Building Science Education with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, from community-focused designs to real-life innovative zero energy buildings constructed by students. In this paper, we will introduce the Solar Decathlon programs and a reimagined Building Science Education curriculum that is transforming education to inspire future building design professionals and bring sustainable, equitable design and construction strategies to the real world. The Solar Decathlon is a collegiate-level building design competition that challenges students in 10 Contests, from embodied environmental impact to affordability and resilience. We will cover the structure of the competition and its two Challenges - the Build Challenge and the Design Challenge - as well as additional programs that impact all aspects of the buildings industry. These programs include the Solar Decathlon Building Science Education course, a free online video series that provides students and working professionals with building science fundamentals; the Design Partners Program, which connects innovative student design teams and local building owners seeking low-risk, low-cost opportunities to incorporate sustainable design alternatives into their building portfolio; and Solar Decathlon Pro, a program piloted in 2021 that brings Solar Decathlon resources to design professionals. The Solar Decathlon's effective approach to bringing real-world solutions to building science empowers future professionals to do impactful work.

buildings↗
NASA NTRS2011

A Small Fission Power System with Stirling Power Conversion for NASA Science Missions

In early 2010, a joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Department of Energy (DOE) study team developed a concept for a 1 kWe Fission Power System with a 15-year design life that could be available for a 2020 launch to support future NASA science missions. The baseline concept included a solid block uranium-molybdenum reactor core with embedded heat pipes and distributed thermoelectric converters directly coupled to aluminum radiator fins. A short follow-on study was conducted at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) to evaluate an alternative power conversion approach. The GRC study considered the use of free-piston Stirling power conversion as a substitution to the thermoelectric converters. The resulting concept enables a power increase to 3 kWe with the same reactor design and scalability to 10 kW without changing the reactor technology. This paper presents the configuration layout, system performance, mass summary, and heat transfer analysis resulting from the study.

Mason, Lee↗
NASA NTRS2018

Hybridized Agile Software Development of Flight Control Team Tools for International Space Station's Payload Operations Integration Center

Ground systems operations at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Payload Operations and Integration Function (POIF) is increasing, via the High Operations Tempo (HOT) initiative, its ability to support more science activities with a fourth crew member on the International Space Station (ISS). The Flight Control Team's need to support this increased crew presence mandated the need for a series of software tools to better handle the increasing pace of payload science operations. The overall need was clear from the outset, but the full scope and user experience for each tool, were not as well understood, so establishing a fixed set of initial requirements was not feasible. An Agile Software Development (ASD) paradigm takes advantage of uncertainty, and plans for it, so it was deemed the most appropriate approach to create room for exploring novel concepts, and to mount a rapid and flexible response to inevitiably changing requirements. It facilitated the need for unprecedented collaboration between the Product Team (i.e. users from the Flight Control Team) and the Development Team (i.e. POIC systems engineers, developers, testers). This is a process shift in the development, test, and release of software from one that is prescriptive to one that is adaptive, which is necessary for these tools to have longevity. The application of ASD to the product development lifecycle permitted the timely incorporation of customer feedback, and, allowed for continuous quality improvements. This resulted in a suite of tools that are efficient, user-friendly, and enable POIF ground systems to support the increasing pace of payload science operations. ASD is not as much a set of prescriptive processes as it is a shift in mindset; one that moves from planning against change, to planning for change, thereby iteratively growing software towards user-defined value.

Albers, Cerese M.↗