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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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Thie presentation focuses on recent smallsat-based science missions and those in development for Earth Science, Heliophysics, Astrophysics, and Planetary Science and describes the breadth of science that is currently underway using smallsats.
This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Glenn ResearchCenter Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR)/(STTR)technologies into NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) programs/projects. Other Government and commercial project managers can also find this useful.
This document outlines the strategy by which the Office of Space Science, in collaboration with the Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology and the Office of Space Communications, will meet the challenge of the national technology thrust. The document: highlights the legislative framework within which OSS must operate; evaluates the relationship between OSS and its principal stakeholders; outlines a vision of a successful OSS integrated technology strategy; establishes four goals in support of this vision; provides an assessment of how OSS is currently positioned to respond to the goals; formulates strategic objectives to meet the goals; introduces policies for implementing the strategy; and identifies metrics for measuring success. The OSS Integrated Technology Strategy establishes the framework through which OSS will satisfy stakeholder expectations by teaming with partners in NASA and industry to develop the critical technologies required to: enhance space exploration, expand our knowledge of the universe, and ensure continued national scientific, technical and economic leadership.
A curriculum was written to show teachers how to best use the many resources that are available at the Teacher Resource Center (TRC). This curriculum packet was written using teaching units that teachers in both the elementary and middle schools can use to help students better understand some of the research that has been conducted at NASA and will be conducted in the future. The units are written with certain standards. Each unit contains: (1) specific objectives, using the Virginia standards of learning; (2) the materials that are available from the TRC; (3) many activities that teachers can use in a variety of ways; and (4) specific strategies for measuring the objectives to determine if the students mastered the knowledge, concepts or skills that were taught. The curriculum packet contains specific units on several topics. They are: (1) Careers in Aerospece Science and Technology; (2) The History of Flight; (3) The History of Satellites; (4) The History of the Manned Space Projects and the Future of the Future of the Space Program; (5) The Solar System; and (6) The History of Rockets.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is currently building a reconfigurable, polarimetric L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), specifically designed to acquire airborne repeat track SAR data for differential interferometric measurements. Differentian interferometry can provide key deformation measurements, important for studies of earthquakes, volcanoes and other dynamically changing phenomena. Using precision real-time GPS and a sensor controlled flight management system, the system will be able to fly predefined paths with great precision. The expected performance of the flight control system will constrain the flight path to be within a 10 m diameter tube about the desired flight track. The radar will be designed to be operable on a UAV (Unpiloted Aria1 Vehicle) but will initially be demonstrated on a NASA Gulfstream III. The radar will be fully polarimetric, with a range bandwidth of 80 MHz (2 m range resolution), and will support a 16 km range swath. The antenna will be electronically steered along track to assure that the antenna beam can be directed independently, regardless of the wind direction and speed. Other features supported by the antenna include elevation monopulse and pulse-to-pulse re-steering capabilities that will enable some novel modes of operation. The system will nominally operate at 45,000 ft (13800 m). The program began as an Instrument Incubator Project (IIP) funded by NASA Earth Science and Technology Office (ESTO).
As NASA seeks to fulfill its mission of extending humanity’s reach through exploration as delineated in the Moon to Mars Strategy and Objectives Development and the Moon to Mars Architecture Definition Document, accurate and timely position, navigation, and timing (PNT) services are critical in the architecture, identifying a need to expand a PNT capability to the full lunar proximity service volume. This is echoed in the White House Office of Science, Technology, and Policy Cislunar Science and Technology Strategy, which pinpoints the fundamental need for PNT infrastructure to enable and sustain a vibrant cislunar ecosystem. While the Human Lunar Return segment seeks commercial services to provide a PNT service over a South Pole service volume for a limited period per Earth day, meeting the Sustained Lunar Evolution segment requires a Lunar Navigation System (LNS) focused on delivery of precise and resilient PNT services across the lunar globe and near-Moon space. This presentation describes the pre-Phase A system concept for an orbital constellation, the requisite lunar surface-based in-situ monitor and control segment, and an Earth control segment to provide lunar PNT services out to 200km altitude above the surface. The LNS leverages the foundational efforts on lunar reference system components such as the Lunar Geodetic System, Lunar Time System, and lunar ephemeris and orientation critical to safe, accurate, and seamless navigation.
This guidebook brings together ideas and suggestions for things to do to help with career choice; it includes information about the space industry and the world of work. The chapters present an overview of career choice related to the great opportunities in space science, engineering, and technology. It is vocational guidance for a space age.
The Astrobiology Program is described. However, science-driven robotic exploration of extreme environments is needed for a new era of planetary exploration requiring biologically relevant instrumentation and extensive, autonomous operations on planetary surfaces. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) develops early-stage technologies to enhance scientific understanding. ESTO’s technologies can be reliably and confidently applied to a broad range of science measurements and missions, as well as facilitate practical applications to benefit society at large. As the lead technology office within the Earth Science Division of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, ESTO is focused on the technological challenges inherent to space-based investigations of our planet's dynamic, interrelated systems. Through flexible, science-driven technology strategies and a competitive selection process, ESTO-funded technologies have supported numerous Earth science missions as well as commercial applications. From next generation sensors and instruments to communication and information systems, ESTO technologies enable many NASA missions and data services. The Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program is one focal area of ESTO. AIST innovates information system technologies that enable the development of new observing systems as well as agile science investigations through data analytics and artificial intelligence tools and algorithms. AIST utilizes an end-to-end development approach with the goal of infusing mature technologies into future missions, measurements, and analysis. One thrust of AIST is data exploitation and analysis using an analytic center framework to make observational data and model output more accessible and usable to scientists conducting specific investigations as well as to extract higher-level science content and information from the data. The framework accelerates scientific discovery by harmonizing the data, tools, and computational resources. NASA’s upcoming Surface, Biology and Geology (SBG) mission is one such mission whose data architecture will leverage many of the technologies developed through the AIST program. This talk will highlight current and future program development goals.
Budgetary trends in Federal support of basic scientific research and proposals for national science policy organization
This bibliography contains 1916 annotated references to reports and journal articles of European intellectual origin entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during 1992. Representative subject areas include: spacecraft and aircraft design, propulsion technology, chemistry and materials, engineering and mechanics, earth and life sciences, communications, computers and mathematics, and the natural space sciences.
NASA’s Earth Science Division (ESD) seeks to develop a scientific understanding of Earth and its response to natural and human-induced changes. Earth is a system comprised of diverse components interacting in complex ways. Understanding Earth’s atmosphere, surface and interior, oceans and surface water, ice and snow, and life as a single connected system is necessary in order to improve our predictions of climate, weather, and natural hazards. The ESD’s Flight Program consists of a coordinated series of satellite and airborne systems providing long and short-term, global and regional observations. In addition, the Flight Program provides infrastructure for operating these missions, processing their scientific data, and distributing them on a free and open basis to researchers, operational users, and the public. The Flight Program currently has 24 operating Earth observing space missions and instruments. There are 18 more missions and instruments planned for launch over the next five years. These comprise missions recommended by the National Academies 2017 Earth Science Decadal Survey, missions and selected instruments to ensure availability of key climate data sets, operational missions to sustain the land imaging provided by the Landsat system, and small-sized competitively selected orbital and instrument missions of opportunity belonging to the Earth Venture (EV) program. The Earth Science Decadal Survey, released in early 2018, recommended four new Flight Program elements in addition to the above activities that comprise the Program of Record (POR). Small satellites (~500 kg or less) are essential components of these activities. Presently, there is an increasing use of micro and nanosatellites (or CubeSats) in constellations to support NASA ESD’s scientific objectives. These include the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) for observing tropical cyclone intensification and genesis factors, the Timed-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission, and the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE) CubeSat mission. ESD small satellite initiatives like the Small Satellite Constellation Data Buy and Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) are also underway. The Earth Science Technology Office’s (ESTO) In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies (InVEST) and the Venture Technology program elements have launched seven 3U and 6U CubeSat missions to validate advanced instruments and related technologies. An equivalent number of InVEST and other technology demonstration CubeSats are being prepared for launch in the next year. An overview of plans and current status including topics related to small satellite enabling activities will be presented.
When NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launches in 2021 with the Orion crew vehicle, it will lay the foundation for NASA’s goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon as part of the Artemis program. This first flight—Artemis I—will also mark a milestone for smallsats. Thirteen6U CubeSats are manifested on the Artemis I flight, the first fleet of CubeSats carried as a ride share opportunity to deep space.(NASA’s first CubeSats to deep space, the twin Mars Cube One [MarCO] spacecraft, were an integral part of the InSight Mars lander mission). The Artemis I CubeSat manifest represents a diverse collection of smallsats performing an array of science missions and technology demonstrations. Payloads from NASA, international partners, academia and industry will execute a variety of experiments. Several smallsats will perform lunar-focused missions that may return data that addresses Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKGs) in the agency’s lunar exploration program. Indeed, the Artemis I CubeSats will be in the vanguard of the agency’s 21st-century lunar program. The Artemis I missions will produce data to support space radiation awareness,crewed landings and in-situ resource utilization, helping to support a sustained human lunar presence. Several of the Artemis I CubeSats are demonstrating new technologies, including propulsion capabilities. Among the Artemis I CubeSats are three selected through NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge, part of the Centennial Challenges program. These three missions will compete for prize money while meeting specific technical development goals. Payloads from the Japanese and Italian space agencies provide an early opportunity for international involvement in the Artemis program. Student involvement in almost half of the payloads allow STEM engagement with NASA’s Artemis program. The SLS Block 1 vehicle for the Artemis I flight is manufactured with several elements delivered to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and being prepared for stacking and integration. The new-development of the program, the 212-footcore stage with its four RS-25 engines installed is currently at Stennis Space Center (SSC) for “green run” testing. Following the green run test campaign, the stage will ship to KSC, where it will be integrated with the rest of the vehicle, including the upper stage adapter, where the Artemis I smallsats will be housed.
IEEE SIgnal Processing Society (SPS) and Women in Signal Processing (WiSP) Webinar (https://signalprocessingsociety.org/blog/webinar-wisp-blood-platelets-classification-earth-system-digital-twins-career-computer-vision): Join us for an interactive session with Dr. Jacqueline Le Moigne, Manager of the NASA Science Mission Directorate Earth Science Technology Office’s Advanced Information Systems Technology Program. In this webinar, Dr. Le Moigne will share her journey through academia, the private sector, and her pivotal roles at NASA, emphasizing her work in signal processing, computer vision, and related technologies. The webinar will conclude with an interactive Q&A session, providing attendees the opportunity to engage directly with Dr. Le Moigne about her experiences and insights. Dr. Jacqueline Le Moigne manages NASA's Advanced Information Systems Technology Program, focusing on novel technologies that support Earth Science missions. She previously held roles at NASA Goddard, including Assistant Chief for Technology, and has worked on NASA's Space Technology Research Grants Program and Technology Roadmaps. Before NASA, she was a Research Scientist at the University of Maryland's Computer Vision Laboratory and also gained experience in the private sector. Jacqueline earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris. Her research interests include Image Registration, Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems, Distributed Spacecraft Missions (DSM), and Earth System Digital Twins (ESDT), as well as high-performance and onboard computing. She has authored over 180 publications, including books and patents, and has received multiple awards, including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the Goddard Information Science and Technology Award in 2012.
Accurate measurement of exoplanetary masses is a critical step in addressing key aspects of NASA's science vision. Measuring masses of Earth-analogs around FGK stars out to 10 pc requires sub-microarcsecond astrometric accuracy, which is not within the capabilities of current instrumentation. Thus, new technology will be required to build an astrometric instrument capable of achieving such performance. This will immediately empower the possibility for dedicated astrometric missions, and perhaps most enticing, it will enable astrometric observing modes to be added (with relatively low cost and impact) to any mission boasting a sufficiently stable direct imaging platform. In this paper, we provide an overview of the scientifi?c goals and technology utilized on two of NASA's astrometry testbeds dedicated to advancing stellar astrometry for exoplanet detection. The ?first one, located at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is dedicated to imaging stellar astrometry on sparse ?fields. The goal of this testbed is to mature the Diffractive Pupil (DP) technology to TRL-5, demonstrating high-?fidelity performance in a relevant environment. This testbed operates in a vacuum tank at the High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT) at JPL. The second testbed, located at NASA Ames Research Center, is dedicated to advancing narrow angle relative astrometry to detect exoplanets around nearby binary stars. The key technology in this testbed is a DP specially designed to measure the angle between two sources on the sky. This testbed operates in air and aims to bring this technology to TRL-4.
NASA’s Langley Research Center recently completed development of the Aerosol Wind Profiler (AWP) suborbital coherent Doppler wind lidar (CDWL) instrument. Developed with support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, Earth Science Division, and LaRC Science Directorate, the AWP project adapted the Wind-SP 2 µm transceiver for airborne use. AWP successfully completed demonstration and engineering test flights in January 2023. LaRC has been funded by a NOAA Joint Venture program Suborbital 3-D Wind Measurement Demonstration project to collect and provide AWP data. The first campaign collected > 50 hours of data during the October 2023 EcoDemonstrator campaign on the NASA DC-8, samples of which will be presented here. AWP implemented and demonstrated multiple technologies needed for a space CDWL transceiver, which have continued development towards miniaturization and ruggedization. A space-based CDWL study is being completed that leverages these recent developments, informing a vision for a relatively low-cost orbital CDWL mission that will also be introduced.
The present volume on perspectives on American space history and policy discusses decision-making, space science and scientific communities, postwar aeronautical research in the federal laboratory, and civilian and military remote sensing and reconnaissance. Attention is given to the interpenetration of science, technology, and politics; space 'sociology'; and space technology and planetary science from 1950 to 1985. Other topics addressed include the aeronautics infrastructure as it applies to aeronautics history, the Lewis Research Center and its transition to space, the relationship between NASA and the users of earth resources data, and methodology for researching a classified system for space reconnaissance.
NASA’s Langley Research Center recently completed development of the Aerosol Wind Profiler (AWP) suborbital, 2 µm coherent Doppler wind lidar (CDWL) instrument. The AWP instrument is presented, and the Jan 2023 flight demonstration configuration is described. Data from these demonstration flights are presented. AWP was developed with support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, Earth Science Division, and LaRC Science Directorate.