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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2015

Programmable Ultra-Lightweight System Adaptable Radio

The programmable ultra-lightweight system adaptable radio (PULSAR) is a NASA Marshall Space Flight Center transceiver designed for the CubeSat market, but has the potential for other markets. The PULSAR project aims to reduce size, weight, and power while increasing telemetry data rate. The current version of the PULSAR has a mass of 2.2 kg and a footprint of 10.8 cm2. The height depends on the specific configuration. The PULSAR S-Band Communications Subsystem is an S- and X-band transponder system comprised of a receiver/detector (receiver) element, a transmitter element(s), and related power distribution, command, control, and telemetry element for operation and information interfaces. It is capable of receiving commands, encoding and transmitting telemetry, as well as providing tracking data in a manner compatible with Earthbased ground stations, near Earth network, and deep space network station resources. The software-defined radio's (SDR's) data format characteristics can be defined and reconfigured during spaceflight or prior to launch. The PULSAR team continues to evolve the SDR to improve the performance and form factor to meet the requirements that the CubeSat market space requires. One of the unique features is that the actual radio design can change (somewhat), but not require any hardware modifications due to the use of field programmable gate arrays.

Werkheiser, Arthur↗
DOE OSTI2025

Identifying environmentally induced calibration changes in cryogenic RF axion detector systems using deep neural networks

The axion is a compelling hypothetical particle that could account for the dark matter in our universe while simultaneously solving the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics. The most sensitive axion detection technique demonstrated so far makes use of a high Q cavity immersed in a strong magnetic field, where axions are converted to microwave photons. This is called an axion haloscope and has primarily targeted the 1–10 GHz range. As searches scan up in axion mass, toward the parameter space favored by theoretical predictions, individual cavity sizes decrease in order to achieve higher frequencies. This shrinking cavity volume translates directly to a loss in signal-to-noise, motivating the plan to replace individual cavity detectors with arrays of cavities. When the transition from one to (N) multiple cavities occurs, haloscope searches are anticipated to become much more complicated to operate, requiring N times as many measurements but also the new requirement that N detectors operate in unison, which can be achieved by locking them to a common frequency. To offset this anticipated increase in detector complexity, we aim to develop new tools for diagnosing experiments using neural networks. Current experiments monitor scattering parameters of their receiver for periodically measuring cavity quality factor and coupling. However, off-resonant data remain relatively useless. In this paper, we ask if it is possible that off-resonant information contained in vector network analyzer scans could be used to diagnose equipment failures/anomalies and measure physical conditions (e.g., temperatures and ambient magnetic field). We demonstrate a proof-of-concept that AI techniques can help manage the complexity of an axion haloscope search for operators.

Engel, Andrew W. [Pacific Northwest National Labor↗
NASA NTRS2009

NASA Tech Briefs, December 2009

Topics include: A Deep Space Network Portable Radio Science Receiver; Detecting Phase Boundaries in Hard-Sphere Suspensions; Low-Complexity Lossless and Near-Lossless Data Compression Technique for Multispectral Imagery; Very-Long-Distance Remote Hearing and Vibrometry; Using GPS to Detect Imminent Tsunamis; Stream Flow Prediction by Remote Sensing and Genetic Programming; Pilotless Frame Synchronization Using LDPC Code Constraints; Radiometer on a Chip; Measuring Luminescence Lifetime With Help of a DSP; Modulation Based on Probability Density Functions; Ku Telemetry Modulator for Suborbital Vehicles; Photonic Links for High-Performance Arraying of Antennas; Reconfigurable, Bi-Directional Flexfet Level Shifter for Low-Power, Rad-Hard Integration; Hardware-Efficient Monitoring of I/O Signals; Video System for Viewing From a Remote or Windowless Cockpit; Spacesuit Data Display and Management System; IEEE 1394 Hub With Fault Containment; Compact, Miniature MMIC Receiver Modules for an MMIC Array Spectrograph; Waveguide Transition for Submillimeter-Wave MMICs; Magnetic-Field-Tunable Superconducting Rectifier; Bonded Invar Clip Removal Using Foil Heaters; Fabricating Radial Groove Gratings Using Projection Photolithography; Gratings Fabricated on Flat Surfaces and Reproduced on Non-Flat Substrates; Method for Measuring the Volume-Scattering Function of Water; Method of Heating a Foam-Based Catalyst Bed; Small Deflection Energy Analyzer for Energy and Angular Distributions; Polymeric Bladder for Storing Liquid Oxygen; Pyrotechnic Simulator/Stray-Voltage Detector; Inventions Utilizing Microfluidics and Colloidal Particles; RuO2 Thermometer for Ultra-Low Temperatures; Ultra-Compact, High-Resolution LADAR System for 3D Imaging; Dual-Channel Multi-Purpose Telescope; Objective Lens Optimized for Wavefront Delivery, Pupil Imaging, and Pupil Ghosting; CMOS Camera Array With Onboard Memory; Quickly Approximating the Distance Between Two Objects; Processing Images of Craters for Spacecraft Navigation; Adaptive Morphological Feature-Based Object Classifier for a Color Imaging System; Rover Slip Validation and Prediction Algorithm; Safety and Quality Training Simulator; Supply-Chain Optimization Template; Algorithm for Computing Particle/Surface Interactions; Cryogenic Pupil Alignment Test Architecture for Aberrated Pupil Images; and Thermal Transport Model for Heat Sink Design.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2013

X-Ray Detection and Processing Models for Spacecraft Navigation and Timing

The current primary method of deepspace navigation is the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). High-performance navigation is achieved using Delta Differential One-Way Range techniques that utilize simultaneous observations from multiple DSN sites, and incorporate observations of quasars near the line-of-sight to a spacecraft in order to improve the range and angle measurement accuracies. Over the past four decades, x-ray astronomers have identified a number of xray pulsars with pulsed emissions having stabilities comparable to atomic clocks. The x-ray pulsar-based navigation and time determination (XNAV) system uses phase measurements from these sources to establish autonomously the position of the detector, and thus the spacecraft, relative to a known reference frame, much as the Global Positioning System (GPS) uses phase measurements from radio signals from several satellites to establish the position of the user relative to an Earth-centered fixed frame of reference. While a GPS receiver uses an antenna to detect the radio signals, XNAV uses a detector array to capture the individual xray photons from the x-ray pulsars. The navigation solution relies on detailed xray source models, signal processing, navigation and timing algorithms, and analytical tools that form the basis of an autonomous XNAV system. Through previous XNAV development efforts, some techniques have been established to utilize a pulsar pulse time-of-arrival (TOA) measurement to correct a position estimate. One well-studied approach, based upon Kalman filter methods, optimally adjusts a dynamic orbit propagation solution based upon the offset in measured and predicted pulse TOA. In this delta position estimator scheme, previously estimated values of spacecraft position and velocity are utilized from an onboard orbit propagator. Using these estimated values, the detected arrival times at the spacecraft of pulses from a pulsar are compared to the predicted arrival times defined by the pulsar s pulse timing model. A discrepancy provides an estimate of the spacecraft position offset, since an error in position will relate to the measured time offset of a pulse along the line of sight to the pulsar. XNAV researchers have been developing additional enhanced approaches to process the photon TOAs to arrive at an estimate of spacecraft position, including those using maximum-likelihood estimation, digital phase locked loops, and "single photon processing" schemes that utilize all available time data associated with each photon. Using pulsars from separate, non-coplanar locations provides range and range-rate measurements in each pulsar s direction. Combining these different pulsar measurements solves for offsets in position and velocity in three dimensions, and provides accurate overall navigation for deep space vehicles.

Sheikh, Suneel↗
NASA NTRS1991

A minimalist approach to receiver architecture

New signal processing techniques are described for Deep Space Network radios and a proposed receiver architecture is presented, as well as experimental results on this new receiver's analog front end. The receiver's design employs direct downconversion rather than high speed digitization, and it is just as suitable for use as a space based probe relay receiver as it is for installation at a ground antenna. The advantages of having an inexpensive, shoe box size receiver, which could be carried around to antennas of opportunity, used for spacecraft testing or installed in the base of every antenna in a large array are the force behind this project.

Collins, O.↗
DOE OSTI2025

A physics-constrained deep learning treatment of runaway electron dynamics

An adjoint formulation leveraging a physics-informed neural network (PINN) is employed to advance the density moment of a runaway electron (RE) distribution forward in time. A distinguishing feature of this approach is that once the adjoint problem is solved, its solution can be used to project the RE density forward in time for an arbitrary initial momentum space distribution of REs. Furthermore, by employing a PINN, a parametric solution to the adjoint problem can be learned. Thus, once trained, this adjoint-deep learning framework is able to efficiently project the RE density forward in time across various plasma conditions while still including a fully kinetic description of RE dynamics. As an example application, the temporal evolution of the density of primary electrons is studied, with particular emphasis on evaluating the decay of a RE population when below threshold. Predictions from the adjoint-deep learning framework are found to be in good agreement with a traditional relativistic electron Fokker–Planck solver, for several distinct initial conditions, and across an array of physics parameters. Once trained, the PINN thus provides a means of generating RE density time histories with exceptionally low online execution time.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2012

Experimental Evaluation of the "Polished Panel Optical Receiver" Concept on the Deep Space Network's 34 Meter Antenna

The potential development of large aperture ground-based "photon bucket" optical receivers for deep space communications has received considerable attention recently. One approach currently under investigation proposes to polish the aluminum reflector panels of 34-meter microwave antennas to high reflectance, and accept the relatively large spotsize generated by even state-of-the-art polished aluminum panels. Here we describe the experimental effort currently underway at the Deep Space Network (DSN) Goldstone Communications Complex in California, to test and verify these concepts in a realistic operational environment. A custom designed aluminum panel has been mounted on the 34 meter research antenna at Deep-Space Station 13 (DSS-13), and a remotely controlled CCD camera with a large CCD sensor in a weather-proof container has been installed next to the subreflector, pointed directly at the custom polished panel. Using the planet Jupiter as the optical point-source, the point-spread function (PSF) generated by the polished panel has been characterized, the array data processed to determine the center of the intensity distribution, and expected communications performance of the proposed polished panel optical receiver has been evaluated.

photon counting detection↗
NASA NTRS1986

HEO multimission navigation concept

As part of the Network Consolidation Program, the 26-meter Tracking and Communication Subnet was transferred to JPL. Along with this transfer JPL assumed responsibility for tracking and navigation support for Earth orbiter missions normally tracked by the 26-meter sites. The High Earth Orbiter (HEO) Multimission Navigation Facility was formed as a component of the Deep Space Network (DSN) Tracking System for the purpose of supporting Earth orbiter missions and certain classes of deep space missions. This facility has been implemented on a dedicated VAX 11/780 minicomputer within the Network Operations Control Center (NOCC). The primary function of the system is to process radio metric data and estimate the orbit of a spacecraft in near-Earth or deep space environment. The system is capable of processing radio metric data in near-real time and providing the quick turnaround required for Earth orbiter operations. It is also capable of generating precision spacecraft ephemeris for use by the NOCC Support Subsystem and external agencies. This article discusses the implementation and functional operation of the Multimission Navigation Subsystem and describes the support that has been provided for an array of missions.

Ellis, J.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Architectural Design for a Mars Communications and Navigation Orbital Infrastructure

The planet Mars has become the focus of an intensive series of missions that span decades of time, a wide array of international agencies and an evolution from robotics to humans. The number of missions to Mars at any one time, and over a period of time, is unprecedented in the annals of space exploration. To meet the operational needs of this exploratory fleet will require the implementation of new architectural concepts for communications and navigation. To this end, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has begun to define and develop a Mars communications and navigation orbital infrastructure. This architecture will make extensive use of assets at Mars, as well as use of traditional Earth-based assets, such as the Deep Space Network, DSN. Indeed, the total system can be thought of as an extension of DSN nodes and services to the Mars in-situ region. The concept has been likened to the beginnings of an interplanetary Internet that will bring the exploration of Mars right into our living rooms. The paper will begin with a high-level overview of the concept for the Mars communications and navigation infrastructure. Next, the mission requirements will be presented. These will include the relatively near-term needs of robotic landers, rovers, ascent vehicles, balloons, airplanes, and possibly orbiting, arriving and departing spacecraft. Requirements envisioned for the human exploration of Mars will also be described. The important Mars orbit design trades on telecommunications and navigation capabilities will be summarized, and the baseline infrastructure will be described. A roadmap of NASA's plan to evolve this infrastructure over time will be shown. Finally, launch considerations and delivery to Mars will be briefly treated.

Ceasrone R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Relative planetary radar sensitivities: Arecibo and Goldstone

The increase of the Deep Space Network antennas from 64 meter to 70 meter diameter represents the first of several improvements that will be made over the next decade to enhance earth based radar sensitivity to solar system targets. The aperture increase at the Goldstone DSS-14 site, coupled with a proposed increase in transmitter power to 1000 kW, will improve the 3.5 cm radar by about one order of magnitude. Similarly, proposed Arecibo Observatory upgrades of a Gregorian feed structure and an increase of transmitter power to 1000 kW will increase the sensitivity of this radar about 20 fold. In addition, a Goldstone to Very Large Array bistatic observation with horizon to horizon tracking will have 3.5 times more sensitivity than will a Goldstone horizon to horizon monostatic observation. All of these improvements, which should be in place within the next decade, will enrich an already fertile field of planetary exploration.

Renzetti, N. A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Digital Front End for Wide-Band VLBI Science Receiver

An upgrade to the very-long-baseline-interferometry (VLBI) science receiver (VSR) a radio receiver used in NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) is currently being implemented. The current VSR samples standard DSN intermediate- frequency (IF) signals at 256 MHz and after digital down-conversion records data from up to four 16-MHz baseband channels. Currently, IF signals are limited to the 265-to-375-MHz range, and recording rates are limited to less than 80 Mbps. The new digital front end, denoted the Wideband VSR, provides improvements to enable the receiver to process wider bandwidth signals and accommodate more data channels for recording. The Wideband VSR utilizes state-of-the-art commercial analog-to-digital converter and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) integrated circuits, and fiber-optic connections in a custom architecture. It accepts IF signals from 100 to 600 MHz, sampling the signal at 1.28 GHz. The sample data are sent to a digital processing module, using a fiber-optic link for isolation. The digital processing module includes boards designed around an Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA) industry-standard backplane. Digital signal processing implemented in FPGAs down-convert the data signals in up to 16 baseband channels with programmable bandwidths from 1 kHz to 16 MHz. Baseband samples are transmitted to a computer via multiple Ethernet connections allowing recording to disk at rates of up to 1 Gbps.

Jongeling, Andre↗
NASA NTRS2024

Simulated Feasibility of 3D Lightning Mapping from Space

In addition to the awe it inspires, lightning can illuminate the microphysical processes hidden away within deep convection. The current generation of space-based lightning mapping uses mostly 2D optical imaging to connect overall flash characteristics to their parent storm dynamics, but are missing a dimension’s worth of information. With lightning now classified as an essential climate variable, future spaceborne mappers will need improved capabilities to take advantage of the 3D structure of lightning flashes to support meteorological and climate modeling. We report here on a study of the feasibility of implementing a radio frequency (RF)–based network of satellites for 3D lightning mapping in high resolution from low Earth orbit (LEO). Lightning sources are simulated using existing tools of the Lightning Mapping Array (LMA), modified for orbital detection, and spatially reconstructed using a Levenberg-Marquardt geolocation algorithm to assess sources of uncertainty in these solutions. We analyze the benefits and limitations of this approach compared to existing orbital and ground-based methods. Results of this study show that lightning can be mapped in 3D with a vertical location accuracy better than 2 km using as few as five satellites in LEO capable of measuring the time-of-arrival of impulsive RF signals in the very high frequency (VHF) band. The consequence of this study is that high-resolution, spaceborne 3D mapping of lightning is achievable across most of the globe, having crucial implications for our understanding of not only lightning, but also severe weather development, climate science, and more.

CubeSpark↗
NASA NTRS1987

Ka-band (32-GHz) performance of 70-meter antennas in the Deep Space Network

Two models are provided of the Deep Space Network (DSN) 70 m antenna performance at Ka-band (32 GHz) and, for comparison purposes, one at X-band (8.4 GHz). The baseline 70 m model represents expected X-band and Ka-band performance at the end of the currently ongoing 64 m to 70 m mechanical upgrade. The improved 70 m model represents two sets of Ka-band performance estimates (the X-band performance will not change) based on two separately developed improvement schemes: the first scheme, a mechanical approach, reduces tolerances of the panels and their settings, the reflector structure and subreflector, and the pointing and tracking system. The second, an electronic/mechanical approach, uses an array feed scheme to compensate fo lack of antenna stiffness, and improves panel settings using microwave holographic measuring techniques. Results are preliminary, due to remaining technical and cost uncertainties. However, there do not appear to be any serious difficulties in upgrading the baseline DSN 70 m antenna network to operate efficiently in an improved configuration at 32 GHz (Ka-band). This upgrade can be achieved by a conventional mechanical upgrade or by a mechanical/electronic combination. An electronically compensated array feed system is technically feasible, although it needs to be modeled and demonstrated. Similarly, the mechanical upgrade requires the development and demonstration of panel actuators, sensors, and an optical surveying system.

Imbriale, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Solar-A Prelaunch Mission Operation Report (MOR)

The Solar-A mission is a Japanese-led program with the participation of the United States and the United Kingdom. The Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) is providing the Solar-A spacecraft, two of the four science instruments, the launch vehicle and launch support, and the principal ground station with Operational Control Center. NASA is providing a science instrument, the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT)and tracking support using the Deep Space Network (DSN) ground stations. The United Kingdom s Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) provides the Bragg Crystal Spectrometer. The Solar-A mission will study solar flares using a cluster of instruments on a satellite in a 600 km altitude, 31 degree inclination circular orbit. The emphasis of the mission is on imaging and spectroscopy of hard and soft X-rays. The principal instruments are a pair of X-ray imaging instruments, one for the hard X-ray range and one for the soft X-ray range. The Hard X-Ray Telescope (HXT), provided by ISAS, operates in the energy range of 10-100 keV and uses an array of modulation collimators to record Fourier transform images of the non-thermal and hot plasmas that are formed during the early phases of a flare. These images are thought to be intimately associated with the sites of primary energy release. The Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT), jointly provided by NASA and ISAS, operates in the wavelength range of 3-50 Angstroms and uses a grazing incidence mirror to form direct images of the lower temperature (but still very hot) plasmas that form as the solar atmosphere responds to the injection of energy. The SXT instrument is a joint development effort between the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The U.S. effort also involves Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Hawaii, who provide support in the areas of theory, data analysis and interpretation, and ground-based observations. The hard and soft X-ray telescopes both have an alignment sensor, operating in the visual region of the spectrum, to provide co-alignment information.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2013

Direct-to-Earth Communications with Mars Science Laboratory During Entry, Descent, and Landing

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) undergoes extreme heating and acceleration during Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) on Mars. Unknown dynamics lead to large Doppler shifts, making communication challenging. During EDL, a special form of Multiple Frequency Shift Keying (MFSK) communication is used for Direct-To-Earth (DTE) communication. The X-band signal is received by the Deep Space Network (DSN) at the Canberra Deep Space Communication complex, then down-converted, digitized, and recorded by open-loop Radio Science Receivers (RSR), and decoded in real-time by the EDL Data Analysis (EDA) System. The EDA uses lock states with configurable Fast Fourier Transforms to acquire and track the signal. RSR configuration and channel allocation is shown. Testing prior to EDL is discussed including software simulations, test bed runs with MSL flight hardware, and the in-flight end-to-end test. EDA configuration parameters and signal dynamics during pre-entry, entry, and parachute deployment are analyzed. RSR and EDA performance during MSL EDL is evaluated, including performance using a single 70-meter DSN antenna and an array of two 34-meter DSN antennas as a back up to the 70-meter antenna.

Direct-to-Earth (DTE)↗
NASA NTRS2011

Experimental Evaluation of Optically Polished Aluminum Panels on the Deep Space Network's 34 Meter Antenna

The potential development of large aperture ground?based "photon bucket" optical receivers for deep space communications has received considerable attention recently. One approach currently under investigation is to polish the aluminum reflector panels of 34?meter microwave antennas to high reflectance, and accept the relatively large spotsize generated by state of?the?art polished aluminum panels. Theoretical analyses of receiving antenna pointing, temporal synchronization and data detection have been addressed in previous papers. Here we describe the experimental effort currently underway at the Deep Space Network (DSN) Goldstone Communications Complex in California, to test and verify these concepts in a realistic operational environment. Two polished aluminum panels (a standard DSN panel polished to high reflectance, and a custom designed aluminum panel with much better surface quality) have been mounted on the 34 meter research antenna at Deep?Space Station 13 (DSS?13), and a remotely controlled CCD camera with a large CCD sensor in a weather?proof container has been installed next to the subreflector, pointed directly at the custom polished panel. The point?spread function (PSF) generated by the Vertex polished panel has been determined to be smaller than the sensor of the CCD camera, hence a detailed picture of the PSF can be obtained every few seconds, and the sensor array data processed to determine the center of the intensity distribution. In addition to estimating the center coordinates, expected communications performance can also been evaluated with the recorded data. The results of preliminary pointing experiments with the Vertex polished panel receiver using the planet Jupiter to simulate the PSF generated by a deep?space optical transmitter are presented and discussed in this paper.

optical receiver↗
NASA NTRS1982

Viterbi decoder node synchronization losses in the Reed-Solomon/Veterbi concatenated channel

The Viterbi decoders currently used by the Deep Space Network (DSN) employ an algorithm for maintaining node synchronization that significantly degrades at bit signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of below 2.0 dB. In a recent report by the authors, it was shown that the telemetry receiving system, which uses a convolutionally encoded downlink, will suffer losses of 0.85 dB and 1.25 dB respectively at Voyager 2 Uranus and Neptune encounters. This report extends the results of that study to a concatenated (255,223) Reed-Solomon/(7, 1/2) convolutionally coded channel, by developing a new radio loss model for the concatenated channel. It is shown here that losses due to improper node synchronization of 0.57 dB at Uranus and 1.0 dB at Neptune can be expected if concatenated coding is used along with an array of one 64-meter and three 34-meter antennas.

Deutsch, L. J.↗
NASA NTRS2007

High-Capacity Communications from Martian Distances

High capacity communications from Martian distances, required for the envisioned human exploration and desirable for data-intensive science missions, is challenging. NASA s Deep Space Network currently requires large antennas to close RF telemetry links operating at kilobit-per-second data rates. To accommodate higher rate communications, NASA is considering means to achieve greater effective aperture at its ground stations. This report, focusing on the return link from Mars to Earth, demonstrates that without excessive research and development expenditure, operational Mars-to-Earth RF communications systems can achieve data rates up to 1 Gbps by 2020 using technology that today is at technology readiness level (TRL) 4-5. Advanced technology to achieve the needed increase in spacecraft power and transmit aperture is feasible at an only moderate increase in spacecraft mass and technology risk. In addition, both power-efficient, near-capacity coding and modulation and greater aperture from the DSN array will be required. In accord with these results and conclusions, investment in the following technologies is recommended:(1) lightweight (1 kg/sq m density) spacecraft antenna systems; (2) a Ka-band receive ground array consisting of relatively small (10-15 m) antennas; (3) coding and modulation technology that reduces spacecraft power by at least 3 dB; and (4) efficient generation of kilowatt-level spacecraft RF power.

Williams, W. Dan↗