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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2017

Understanding the International Space Station Crew Perspective following Long-Duration Missions through Data Analytics & Visualization of Crew Feedback

The International Space Station (ISS) first became a home and research laboratory for NASA and International Partner crewmembers over 16 years ago. Each ISS mission lasts approximately 6 months and consists of three to six crewmembers. After returning to Earth, most crewmembers participate in an extensive series of 30+ debriefs intended to further understand life onboard ISS and allow crews to reflect on their experiences. Examples of debrief data collected include ISS crew feedback about sleep, dining, payload science, scheduling and time planning, health & safety, and maintenance. The Flight Crew Integration (FCI) Operational Habitability (OpsHab) team, based at Johnson Space Center (JSC), is a small group of Human Factors engineers and one stenographer that has worked collaboratively with the NASA Astronaut office and ISS Program to collect, maintain, disseminate and analyze this data. The database provides an exceptional and unique resource for understanding the "crew perspective" on long duration space missions. Data is formatted and categorized to allow for ease of search, reporting, and ultimately trending, in order to understand lessons learned, recurring issues and efficiencies gained over time. Recently, the FCI OpsHab team began collaborating with the NASA JSC Knowledge Management team to provide analytical analysis and visualization of these over 75,000 crew comments in order to better ascertain the crew's perspective on long duration spaceflight and gain insight on changes over time. In this initial phase of study, a text mining framework was used to cluster similar comments and develop measures of similarity useful for identifying relevant topics affecting crew health or performance, locating similar comments when a particular issue or item of operational interest is identified, and providing search capabilities to identify information pertinent to future spaceflight systems and processes for things like procedure development and training. In addition, the comments were scored for sentiment using a polarity scoring algorithm to identify both positive and negative comments for particular groups and clusters, allowing the team to make analytically informed decisions regarding future hardware and operating procedures. The use of polarity scoring with time series analysis was used to provide insight into how crew health and habitability is changing throughout various spaceflight increments or the station lifecycle as a whole. Finally, a visualization framework was developed to address the needs of the end users to search for and analyze comments by user, category or mission. This paper will discuss how the use of an analytical framework in conjunction with the current human interface, improved the understanding of crew perspective and shortened the time for analysis allowing for more informed decisions and rapid development of improvements. These methods are significantly optimizing the way that this valuable data can be assessed and applied to current and future spaceflight design and development. This collaboration allows the FCI OpsHab team to effectively analyze and share data in a more automated and timely fashion. Trends are no longer derived manually and can be illustrated effectively and accurately with these evolving techniques to an ever growing group of human spaceflight end users.

Bryant, Cody↗
DOE OSTI2024

Elucidation of a Metastable p(2 × 1) O Atom Adlayer Structure on Cu(111)

Cu-based catalysts are ubiquitous in many industrial reactions, including methanol synthesis. Under partially oxidizing conditions, Cu catalysts can have dynamic surface structures that greatly influence their reactivities. Therefore, elucidating the surface structures that are present on Cu, and looking for metastable structures, aids in the long term goal of understanding and controlling their catalytic behavior. Thin-film copper oxides such as the “29” and “44” structures have been described at length in the literature, but precursors to these thin-film oxides can be challenging to study because they exist only under certain conditions. Using a combination of experimental and computational surface science techniques, we discovered, modeled, and quantified a previously unreported O atom adlayer structure on Cu(111) with a p(2 × 1) unit cell. Here, we used scanning tunneling microscopy to visualize the striped 2 × 1 structure and density functional theory (DFT) structure optimizations to identify the thermodynamically most favorable positions of Cu and O atoms in a p(2 × 1) unit cell. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and temperature-programmed desorption, we determined the stoichiometry of the structure to be 2:1 for surface Cu atoms to O adatoms, the same stoichiometry as that modeled by DFT. This work reports a new metastable structure formed on Cu(111) at the very initial stages of oxidation and is therefore worth considering in models of catalytically relevant redox processes at Cu surfaces.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Parallel-scanning tomosynthesis using a slot scanning technique: Fixed-focus reconstruction and the resulting image quality

Purpose: Parallel-scanning tomosynthesis (PS-TS) is a novel technique that fuses the slot scanning technique and the conventional tomosynthesis (TS) technique. This approach allows one to obtain long-view tomosynthesis images in addition to normally sized tomosynthesis images, even when using a system that has no linear tomographic scanning function. The reconstruction technique and an evaluation of the resulting image quality for PS-TS are described in this paper. Methods: The PS-TS image-reconstruction technique consists of several steps (1) the projection images are divided into strips, (2) the strips are stitched together to construct images corresponding to the reconstruction plane, (3) the stitched images are filtered, and (4) the filtered stitched images are back-projected. In the case of PS-TS using the fixed-focus reconstruction method (PS-TS-F), one set of stitched images is used for the reconstruction planes at all heights, thus avoiding the necessity of repeating steps (1)–(3). A physical evaluation of the image quality of PS-TS-F compared with that of the conventional linear TS was performed using a R/F table (Sonialvision safire, Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan). The tomographic plane with the best theoretical spatial resolution (the in-focus plane, IFP) was set at a height of 100 mm from the table top by adjusting the reconstruction program. First, the spatial frequency response was evaluated at heights of −100, −50, 0, 50, 100, and 150 mm from the IFP using the edge of a 0.3-mm-thick copper plate. Second, the spatial resolution at each height was visually evaluated using an x-ray test pattern (Model No. 38, PTW Freiburg, Germany). Third, the slice sensitivity at each height was evaluated via the wire method using a 0.1-mm-diameter tungsten wire. Phantom studies using a knee phantom and a whole-body phantom were also performed. Results: The spatial frequency response of PS-TS-F yielded the best results at the IFP and degraded slightly as the distance from the IFP increased. A visual evaluation of the spatial resolution using the x-ray test pattern indicated that the resolution was 1.8 lp/mm at the IFP and 1.2 lp/mm at heights of −100 and 100 mm from the IFP. The authors demonstrated that a spatial resolution of 1.2–1.8 lp/mm could be obtained within heights of 200 mm of the IFP. The slice sensitivity varied between 11.1 and 13.8 mm for heights between −50 and 100 mm, and there was no critical change in the slice sensitivity within a height range of 150 mm around the IFP. The phantom results demonstrated that tomosynthesis and long-view images could be reconstructed. Conclusions: PS-TS-F provides tomosynthesis images while using low-cost systems that have no tomographic scanning function, such as tableside-controlled universal R/F systems or universal radiographic systems.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

MO-D-213-01: Workflow Monitoring for a High Volume Radiation Oncology Center

Purpose: Implement a center wide communication system that increases interdepartmental transparency and accountability while decreasing redundant work and treatment delays by actively monitoring treatment planning workflow. Methods: Intake Management System (IMS), a program developed by ProCure Treatment Centers Inc., is a multi-function database that stores treatment planning process information. It was devised to work with the oncology information system (Mosaiq) to streamline interdepartmental workflow.Each step in the treatment planning process is visually represented and timelines for completion of individual tasks are established within the software. The currently active step of each patient’s planning process is highlighted either red or green according to whether the initially allocated amount of time has passed for the given process. This information is displayed as a Treatment Planning Process Monitor (TPPM), which is shown on screens in the relevant departments throughout the center. This display also includes the individuals who are responsible for each task.IMS is driven by Mosaiq’s quality checklist (QCL) functionality. Each step in the workflow is initiated by a Mosaiq user sending the responsible party a QCL assignment. IMS is connected to Mosaiq and the sending or completing of a QCL updates the associated field in the TPPM to the appropriate status. Results: Approximately one patient a week is identified during the workflow process as needing to have his/her treatment start date modified or resources re-allocated to address the most urgent cases. Being able to identify a realistic timeline for planning each patient and having multiple departments communicate their limitations and time constraints allows for quality plans to be developed and implemented without overburdening any one department. Conclusion: Monitoring the progression of the treatment planning process has increased transparency between departments, which enables efficient communication. Having built-in timelines allows easy prioritization of tasks and resources and facilitates effective time management.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-469: A Clinically Observed Discrepancy Between Image-Based and Log- Based MLC Position

Purpose: To present a clinical case which challenges the base assumption of log-file based QA, by showing that the actual position of a MLC leaf can suddenly deviate from its programmed and logged position by >1 mm as observed with real-time imaging. Methods: An EPID-based exit-fluence dosimetry system designed to prevent gross delivery errors was used in cine mode to capture portal images during treatment. Visual monitoring identified an anomalous MLC leaf pair gap not otherwise detected by the automatic position verification. The position of the erred leaf was measured on EPID images and log files were analyzed for the treatment in question, the prior day’s treatment, and for daily MLC test patterns acquired on those treatment days. Additional standard test patterns were used to quantify the leaf position. Results: Whereas the log file reported no difference between planned and recorded positions, image-based measurements showed the leaf to be 1.3±0.1 mm medial from the planned position. This offset was confirmed with the test pattern irradiations. Conclusion: It has been clinically observed that log-file derived leaf positions can differ from their actual positions by >1 mm, and therefore cannot be considered to be the actual leaf positions. This cautions the use of log-based methods for MLC or patient quality assurance without independent confirmation of log integrity. Frequent verification of MLC positions through independent means is a necessary precondition to trusting log file records. Intra-treatment EPID imaging provides a method to capture departures from MLC planned positions. Work was supported in part by Varian Medical Systems.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

ARC integration into the NEAMS Workbench

One of the objectives of the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Integration Product Line (IPL) is to facilitate the deployment of the high-fidelity codes developed within the program. The Workbench initiative was launched in FY-2017 by the IPL to facilitate the transition from conventional tools to high fidelity tools. The Workbench provides a common user interface for model creation, real-time validation, execution, output processing, and visualization for integrated codes.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS1972

A shuttle and space station manipulator system for assembly, docking, maintenance, cargo handling and spacecraft retrieval (preliminary design). Volume 2: Concept development and selection

The overall program background, the various system concepts considered, and the rationale for the selected design are described. The concepts for each subsystem are also described and compared. Details are given for the requirements, boom configuration and dynamics, actuators, man/machine interface and control, visual system, control system, environmental control and life support, data processing, and materials.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1982

Helicopter simulation validation using flight data

A joint NASA/Army effort to perform a systematic ground-based piloted simulation validation assessment is described. The best available mathematical model for the subject helicopter (UH-60A Black Hawk) was programmed for real-time operation. Flight data were obtained to validate the math model, and to develop models for the pilot control strategy while performing mission-type tasks. The validated math model is to be combined with motion and visual systems to perform ground based simulation. Comparisons of the control strategy obtained in flight with that obtained on the simulator are to be used as the basis for assessing the fidelity of the results obtained in the simulator.

Key, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Rail accelerator technology and applications

Rail accelerators offer a viable means of launching ton-size payloads from the Earth's surface to space. The results of two mission studies which indicate that an Earth-to-Space Rail Launcher (ESRL) system is not only technically feasible but also economically beneficial, particularly when large amounts of bulk cago are to be delivered to space are given. An in-house experimental program at the Lewis Research Center (LeRC) was conducted in parallel with the mission studies with the objective of examining technical feasibility issues. A 1 m long - 12.5 by 12.5 mm bore rail accelerator as designed with clear polycarbonate sidewalls to visually observe the plasma armature acceleration. The general character of plasma/projectile dynamics is described for a typical test firing.

Zana, L. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

State-of-charge coulometer

A coulometer for accurately measuring the state-of-charge of an open-cell battery utilizing an aqueous electrolyte, includes a current meter for measuring the battery/discharge current and a flow meter for measuring the rate at which the battery produces gas during charge and discharge. Coupled to the flow meter is gas analyzer which measures the oxygen fraction of the battery gas. The outputs of the current meter, flow meter, and gas analyzer are coupled to a programmed microcomputer which includes a CPU and program and data memories. The microcomputer calculates that fraction of charge and discharge current consumed in the generation of gas so that the actual state-of-charge can be determined. The state-of-charge is then shown on a visual display.

Rowlette, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Magellan attitude and articulation control subsystem closed loop testing

In the spring of 1989, the Magellan spacecraft will embark on a two-year mission to map the surface of the planet Venus. Guiding it there will be the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem (AACS). To ensure reliable operations the AACS is being put through a rigorous test program at Martin Marietta Denver Aerospace. Before Magellan ever leaves the Space Shuttle bay from which it is to be launched, its components will have flown a simulated spaceflight in a ground-based lab. The primary objectives of the test program are to verify form, fit, and function of the AACS, particularly subsystem external interfaces and functional operation of the flight software. This paper discusses the Magellan Closed Loop Test Systems which makes realistic tests possible by simulating the dynamic and 'visual' flight environment for AACS components in the lab.

Olschansky, David G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Coordinating Council. Eighth Meeting: Using the Internet

This NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Coordinating Council meeting theme was entitled 'Using Internet'. Individual topics included STI LAN migration, NSF and NREN (National Science Foundation and the National Research and Education Network), and the New NASA Headquarters LAN. Discussions are recorded for each topic and visuals are provided for STI LAN migration and NSI - NASA Science Internet.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2011

Comparative Assessment and Decision Support System for Strategic Military Airlift Capability

The Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company has been awarded several programs to modernize the aging C-5 military transport fleet. In order to ensure its continuation amidst budget cuts, it was important to engage the decision makers by providing an environment to analyze the benefits of the modernization program. This paper describes an interface that allows the user to change inputs such as the scenario airfields, take-off conditions, and reliability characteristics. The underlying logistics surrogate model was generated using data from a discrete-event simulation. Various visualizations such as intercontinental flight paths illustrated in 3D, have been created to aid the user in analyzing scenarios and performing comparative assessments for various output logistics metrics. The capability to rapidly and dynamically evaluate and compare scenarios was developed enabling real time strategy exploration and trade-offs.

Salmon, John↗
NASA NTRS2006

NASA Tech Briefs, August 2006

Topics covered include: Measurement and Controls Data Acquisition System IMU/GPS System Provides Position and Attitude Data Using Artificial Intelligence to Inform Pilots of Weather Fast Lossless Compression of Multispectral-Image Data Developing Signal-Pattern-Recognition Programs Implementing Access to Data Distributed on Many Processors Compact, Efficient Drive Circuit for a Piezoelectric Pump; Dual Common Planes for Time Multiplexing of Dual-Color QWIPs; MMIC Power Amplifier Puts Out 40 mW From 75 to 110 GHz; 2D/3D Visual Tracker for Rover Mast; Adding Hierarchical Objects to Relational Database General-Purpose XML-Based Information Managements; Vaporizable Scaffolds for Fabricating Thermoelectric Modules; Producing Quantum Dots by Spray Pyrolysis; Mobile Robot for Exploring Cold Liquid/Solid Environments; System Would Acquire Core and Powder Samples of Rocks; Improved Fabrication of Lithium Films Having Micron Features; Manufacture of Regularly Shaped Sol-Gel Pellets; Regulating Glucose and pH, and Monitoring Oxygen in a Bioreactor; Satellite Multiangle Spectropolarimetric Imaging of Aerosols; Interferometric System for Measuring Thickness of Sea Ice; Microscale Regenerative Heat Exchanger Protocols for Handling Messages Between Simulation Computers Statistical Detection of Atypical Aircraft Flights NASA's Aviation Safety and Modeling Project Multimode-Guided-Wave Ultrasonic Scanning of Materials Algorithms for Maneuvering Spacecraft Around Small Bodies Improved Solar-Radiation-Pressure Models for GPS Satellites Measuring Attitude of a Large, Flexible, Orbiting Structure

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2017

Engine Icing Data - An Analytics Approach

Engine icing researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center use the Escort data acquisition system in the Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL) to generate and collect a tremendous amount of data every day. Currently these researchers spend countless hours processing and formatting their data, selecting important variables, and plotting relationships between variables, all by hand, generally analyzing data in a spreadsheet-style program (such as Microsoft Excel). Though spreadsheet-style analysis is familiar and intuitive to many, processing data in spreadsheets is often unreproducible and small mistakes are easily overlooked. Spreadsheet-style analysis is also time inefficient. The same formatting, processing, and plotting procedure has to be repeated for every dataset, which leads to researchers performing the same tedious data munging process over and over instead of making discoveries within their data. This paper documents a data analysis tool written in Python hosted in a Jupyter notebook that vastly simplifies the analysis process. From the file path of any folder containing time series datasets, this tool batch loads every dataset in the folder, processes the datasets in parallel, and ingests them into a widget where users can search for and interactively plot subsets of columns in a number of ways with a click of a button, easily and intuitively comparing their data and discovering interesting dynamics. Furthermore, comparing variables across data sets and integrating video data (while extremely difficult with spreadsheet-style programs) is quite simplified in this tool. This tool has also gathered interest outside the engine icing branch, and will be used by researchers across NASA Glenn Research Center. This project exemplifies the enormous benefit of automating data processing, analysis, and visualization, and will help researchers move from raw data to insight in a much smaller time frame.

Engine Icing↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cameco Corporation's Approach to Legacy and Ongoing Waste Management Within the Fuel Services Division - 19124

Since 2011, a Fuel Services Division (FSD) employee has been dedicated to oversee divisional waste management with the goal of accelerating the recycle/disposal of accumulated legacy radioactive wastes stored at its Ontario operations in Blind River and Port Hope. The Blind River Refinery (BRR) and Port Hope Conversion Facility (PHCF) were previously owned by the federal Crown Corporation, Eldorado Nuclear, becoming part of Cameco in 1988 and Cameco Fuel Manufacturing (CFM), previously known as Zircatec Precision Industries, becoming part of Cameco in 2006. Accumulated legacy radioactive waste is stored at each of the facilities. This radioactive waste has accumulated from operations beginning in the 1930's in Port Hope and the 1980's in Blind River. Due to minimal commercially available outlets for the disposal and/or treatment of these wastes, the waste was managed onsite by storage in underutilized space in buildings, trailers and/or in the secured yard. This relatively low-cost practice meant that over decades, the inventory increased at an unsustainable rate until available space became a limiting factor. During this time, the labelling, inventory records, characterization details and other history of many of the waste materials was not maintained adequately. Due to the volume of waste that had accumulated, campaigns to address these deficiencies in information were not considered feasible, sustaining the issue of accumulation of low-level radioactive waste. Since 2011, FSD has completed annual campaigns to address the accumulated legacy waste, which has included processing of material for decontamination to meet the unrestricted release criteria under the Canadian Nuclear Substance and Radiation Devices Regulations (NSRDR), disposal of marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) at a permitted landfill in the United States, processing of contaminated materials to reduce the volume of low-level radioactive waste and disposal at a designated facility in Port Hope. In addition FSD has undertaken significant changes to radioactive waste management practices at each of the facilities. Multiple characterization techniques, including visual observation, review of process and other historical records, laboratory analysis and radiation scanning have been utilized in campaign planning to identify the scope and appropriate waste management technique(s) to reduce the inventory of stored material. This divisional waste management program has resulted in a significant change to how radioactive waste is generated, inventoried, characterized and managed within FSD and has increased the visibility within the leadership team of the opportunities and challenges of waste management, such as alignment with decommissioning planning, project planning and budgeting. The heightened awareness has led to better financial and physical resource planning to execute waste projects with a current projected elimination of the legacy waste within FSD by 2025. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS2014

NASA's Approach to Critical Risks for Extended Human Space Flight

Planetary Robotic and Human Spaceflight Exploration Humans are exposed to a great variety of hazards in the space environment. These include the effects of weightlessness, radiation, isolation and confinement, altered day-night cycles, and others. These inherent hazards have both physiological and behavioral consequences. The adaptive capabilities of humans in these situations is remarkable, and often exceed our expectations. However, the demanding environment and challenging operational pace can push some of these adaptive processes to their limits. The NASA Human Research Program (HRP) is tasked with mitigating the most serious of these effects on human health, safety, and performance, in long-duration space flight. This can involve the development and deployment of physiological countermeasures, better understanding of the physiological alterations and avoidance of exacerbating situations, inputs to the design of future spacecraft to minimize risks, and in some cases the awareness that some level of risk might have to be accepted based on the resulting consequences and their likelihood. HRP has identified a few areas that are of special concern due to their severity, lack of understanding of underlying causes, or potential for negative impact on health or performance. Some of these areas are visual impairment possibly due to increased intracranial pressure, behavioral and performance problems due to sleep deficits and isolation, and acute and chronic effects of radiation. These problems can, if not addressed, be expected to increase on longer and more distant missions. The evidence from spaceflight, laboratory, and analog studies that supports the selection of the most critical risks will be discussed. Current and planned research programs that address these risks, and their anticipated outcomes, will also be described.

Shelhamer, Mark↗
DOE OSTI2015

BiGG Models: A platform for integrating, standardizing and sharing genome-scale models

In this study, genome-scale metabolic models are mathematically structured knowledge bases that can be used to predict metabolic pathway usage and growth phenotypes. Furthermore, they can generate and test hypotheses when integrated with experimental data. To maximize the value of these models, centralized repositories of high-quality models must be established, models must adhere to established standards and model components must be linked to relevant databases. Tools for model visualization further enhance their utility. To meet these needs, we present BiGG Models (http://bigg.ucsd.edu), a completely redesigned Biochemical, Genetic and Genomic knowledge base. BiGG Models contains more than 75 high-quality, manually-curated genome-scale metabolic models. On the website, users can browse, search and visualize models. BiGG Models connects genome-scale models to genome annotations and external databases. Reaction and metabolite identifiers have been standardized across models to conform to community standards and enable rapid comparison across models. Furthermore, BiGG Models provides a comprehensive application programming interface for accessing BiGG Models with modeling and analysis tools. As a resource for highly curated, standardized and accessible models of metabolism, BiGG Models will facilitate diverse systems biology studies and support knowledge-based analysis of diverse experimental data.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗