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NASA NTRS2019

Requirements Development and Management on the Psyche Project

In January 2017, Psyche was one of two mission concepts selected by NASA for flight as part of the 14th Discovery mission competition. The project has been staffing up and maturing the spacecraft, instrument and mission system baseline designs on the path towards a 2022 launch. During much of 2018, the Project has been executing the lifecycle stage called Phase B, “Preliminary Design and Technology Completion,” one key element of which is the development and management of requirements at various levels. In the case of the Psyche project, this process has been particularly unique for several reasons. The project utilizes a Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis from Space Systems Loral (SSL), a high volume manufacturer of commercial geostationary (GEO) telecom spacecraft based on the 1300 satellite bus. While SSL has an extensive, well-vetted set of requirements based on their very successful Earth-orbiting product line, translating that heritage to a deep space science mission required special care. In addition to the differences associated with the deep space environment and longer communication times, new interfaces had to be incorporated. While a substantial portion of the Flight System consists of the SEP Chassis, there were several new interfaces within various subsystems between SSL components and those provided by JPL and other contractors. Managing these interfaces through requirements at a relatively higher level than normally seen on internal or external builds proved challenging. Finally, the Psyche spacecraft plans to host the flight terminal of the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration, which is itself a separate project with its own requirements that must be flowed down and managed. This paper will present an overview of the requirement development and management process for the Psyche project. It will discuss in detail the various challenges summarized above, the methods and decisions chosen to address them, and evaluate their overall effectiveness at this stage in the project.

Elkins-Tanton, Linda T.↗
NASA NTRS2005

MSL Project Update

Mars Science Lab (MSL) Project activities over the last 3-4 months focused on: a) Payload accommodation; b) Flight system architecture definitization; c) Program architecture support. Baseline project concept is to develop and fly two identical vehicles with launches in 2009 and 2011: a) Significant programmatic uncertainty remains due to NASA strategic issues (Shuttle Return to flight, Hubble servicing, CEV, etc.); b) Final "decisions" on future program not likely for 3-4 months; c) To maintain viability for a 2009 launch, the project must rapidly move into implementation mode despite this uncertainty. Near term activities: a) Converge baseline flight system architecture & instrument accommodation - June; b) Instrument accomodation reviews (IARs) are completed for DAN, MSSS instruments; c) Develop project-wide implementation plan & integrated schedule - June; d) Conduct grassroots cost exercise - July/August; e) Hold Preliminary Mission System Review - September.

Mars↗
NASA NTRS2007

Human Space Exploration: The Moon, Mars, and Beyond

America is returning to the Moon in preparation for the first human footprint on Mars, guided by the U.S. Vision for Space Exploration. This presentation will discuss NASA's mission, the reasons for returning to the Moon and going to Mars, and how NASA will accomplish that mission in ways that promote leadership in space and economic expansion on the new frontier. The primary goals of the Vision for Space Exploration are to finish the International Space Station, retire the Space Shuttle, and build the new spacecraft needed, to return people to the Moon and go to Mars. The Vision commits NASA and the nation to an agenda of exploration that also includes robotic exploration and technology development, while building on lessons learned over 50 years of hard-won experience. Why the Moon? Many questions about the Moon's potential resources and how its history is linked to that of Earth were spurred by the brief Apollo explorations of the 1960s and 1970s. This new venture will carry more explorers to more diverse landing sites with more capable tools and equipment for extended expeditions. The Moon also will serve as a training ground before embarking on the longer, more difficult trip to Mars. NASA plans to build a lunar outpost at one of the lunar poles, learn to live off the land, and reduce dePendence on Earth for longer missions. America needs to extend its ability to survive in hostile environments close to our home planet before astronauts will reach Mars, a planet very much like Earth. NASA has worked with scientists to define lunar exploration goals and is addressing the opportunities for a range of scientific study on Mars. In order to reach the Moon and Mars within a lifetime and within budget, NASA is building on common hardware, shared knowledge, and unique experience derived from the Apollo Saturn, Space Shuttle and contemporary commercial launch vehicle programs. The journeys to the Moon and Mars will require a variety of vehicles, including the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle, which transports the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, and the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle, which transports the Lunar Surface Access Module. The architecture for the lunar missions will use one launch to ferry the crew into orbit, where it will rendezvous with the Lunar Module in the Earth Departure Stage, which will then propel the combination into lunar orbit. The imperative to explore space with the combination of astronauts and robots will be the impetus for inventions such as solar power and water and waste recycling. This next chapter in NASA's history promises to write the next chapter in American history, as well. It will require this nation to provide the talent to develop tools, machines, materials, processes, technologies, and capabilities that can benefit nearly all aspects of life on Earth. Roles and responsibilities are shared between a nationwide Government and industry team. The Exploration Launch Projects Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center manages the design, development, testing, and evaluation of both vehicles and serves as lead systems integrator. A little over a year after it was chartered, the Exploration Launch Projects team is testing engine components, refining vehicle designs, performing wind tunnel tests, and building hardware for the first flight test of Ares I-l, scheduled for spring 2009. The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration lays out a roadmap for a long-term venture of discovery. This endeavor will inspire and attract the best and brightest students to power this nation successfully to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. If one equates the value proposition for space with simple dollars and cents, the potential of the new space economy is tremendous, from orbital space delivery services for the International Space Station to mining and solar energy collection on the Moon and asteroids. The Vision for Space Exploration is fundamentally about bringing the resources of the solar system within the economic sphere of humaind. Given the immense size of our solar system, the amount of available material and energy within it present an enormous economic opportunity.

Sexton, Jeffrey D.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Hearing loss in space

BACKGROUND: Temporary and, in some cases, permanent hearing loss has been documented after long-duration spaceflights. METHODS: We examined all existing published data on hearing loss after space missions to characterize the losses. RESULTS: Data from Russian missions suggest that the hearing loss, when it occurs, affects mainly mid to high frequencies and that using hearing protection often might prevent the loss. Several significant questions remain about hearing loss in space. While the hearing loss has been presumed to be noise-induced, no clear link has been established between noise exposure and hearing loss during spaceflight. In one documented case of temporary hearing loss from the Shuttle-Mir program, the pattern of loss was atypical for a noise-induced loss. Continuous noise levels that have been measured on the Mir and previous space stations, while above engineering standards, are not at levels usually associated with hearing loss in ground-based studies (which have usually been limited to 8-10 h exposure periods). Attempts to measure hearing in space using threshold-based audiograms have been unsuccessful in both the American and Russian programs due to noise interference with the measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The existing data highlight the need for reliable monitoring of both hearing and noise in long-duration spaceflight.

manned↗
NASA NTRS1975

Strain gaged struts and data reduction techniques to maximize quality data from spacecraft flight measurements

The flight instrumentation for the Viking project was established to obtain environmental data, and maximize the data obtainable from the limited number of telemetry channels. To achieve these objectives, a set of six struts were strain gaged and calibrated as load cells to obtain a complete force-time history across an interface. The force-time history can be used with an analytical model to calculate the response of any part of the structure above the instrumented interface. Special matched filters were required to reduce the flight data and derive the phase correlated loads. Flight data results from the Viking Dynamic Simulator flown in February 1974 are described in addition to ground test results used to verify the data reduction process.

Day, F. D., III↗
NASA NTRS1994

The path to an experiment in space (from concept to flight)

The following are discussed in this viewgraph presentation on developing flight experiments for NASA's Microgravity Science and Applications Program: time from flight PI selection to launch; key flight experiment phases and schedule drivers; microgravity experiment definition/development process; definition and engineering development phase; ground-based reduced gravity research facilities; project organization; responsibilities and duties of principle investigator/co-investigators, project scientist, and project manager; the science requirements document; flight development phase; experiment cost and schedule; and keys to experiment success.

Salzman, Jack A.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Growing a Training System and Culture for the Ares I Upper Stage Project

In roughly two years time, Marshall Space Flight Center s (MSFC) Mission Operations Laboratory (MOL) has incubated a personnel training and certification program for about 1000 learners and multiple phases of the Ares I Upper Stage (US) project. Previous MOL-developed training programs focused on about 100 learners with a focus on operations, and had enough full-time training staff to develop courseware and provide training administration. This paper discusses 1) the basics of MOL's training philosophy, 2) how creation of a broad, structured training program unfolded as feedback from more narrowly defined tasks, 3) how training philosophy, development methods, and administration are being simplified and tailored so that many Upper Stage organizations can "grow their own" training yet maintain consistency, accountability, and traceability across the project, 4) interfacing with the production contractor's training system and staff, and 5) reaping training value from existing materials and events.

Scott, David W.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Performance Evaluation and Parameter Identification on DROID III

The DROID III project consisted of two main parts. The former, performance evaluation, focused on the performance characteristics of the aircraft such as lift to drag ratio, thrust required for level flight, and rate of climb. The latter, parameter identification, focused on finding the aerodynamic coefficients for the aircraft using a system that creates a mathematical model to match the flight data of doublet maneuvers and the aircraft s response. Both portions of the project called for flight testing and that data is now available on account of this project. The conclusion of the project is that the performance evaluation data is well-within desired standards but could be improved with a thrust model, and that parameter identification is still in need of more data processing but seems to produce reasonable results thus far.

Plumb, Julianna J.↗
NASA NTRS2005

System Safety in Early Manned Space Program: A Case Study of NASA and Project Mercury

This case study provides a review of National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA's) involvement in system safety during research and evolution from air breathing to exo-atmospheric capable flight systems culminating in the successful Project Mercury. Although NASA has been philosophically committed to the principals of system safety, this case study points out that budget and manpower constraints-as well as a variety of internal and external pressures can jeopardize even a well-designed system safety program. This study begins with a review of the evolution and early years of NASA's rise as a project lead agency and ends with the lessons learned from Project Mercury.

Hansen, Frederick D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

SPDE: Solar Plasma Diagnostic Experiment

The physics of the Solar corona is studied through the use of high resolution soft x-ray spectroscopy and high resolution ultraviolet imagery. The investigation includes the development and application of a flight instrument, first flown in May, 1992 on NASA sounding rocket 36.048. A second flight, NASA founding rocket 36.123, took place on 25 April 1994. Both flights were successful in recording new observations relevant to the investigation. The effort in this contract covers completion of the modifications to the existing rocket payload, its reflight, and the preliminary day reduction and analysis. Experience gained from flight 36.048 led us to plan several payload design modifications. These were made to improve the sensitivity balance between the UV and EUV spectrographs, to improve the scattered light rejection in the spectrographs, to protect the visible light rejection filter for the Normal Incidence X-ray Imager instrument (NIXI), and to prepare one new multilayer mirror coating to the NIXI. We also investigated the addition of a brassboard CCD camera to the payload to test it as a possible replacement for the Eastman type 101-07 film used by the SPDE instruments. This camera was included in the experimeter's data package for the Project Initiation Conference for the flight of NASA Mission 36.123, held in January, 1994, but for programmatic reasons was deleted from the final payload configuration. The payload was shipped to the White Sands Missile Range on schedule in early April. The launch and successful recovery took place on 25 April, in coordination with the Yohkoh satellite and a supporting ground-based observing campaign.

Bruner, Marilyn E.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle Project: Forward Plan to Preliminary Design Review

The Exploration Launch Projects Office, located at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, conducted the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle System Requirements Review (SRR) at the end of 2006, a mere year after the project team was assembled. In Ares' first year, extensive trade studies and evaluations were conducted to refine the design initially recommended by the Exploration Systems Architecture Study, conceptual designs were analyzed for fitness, and the contractual framework was assembled to enable a development effort unparalleled in American space flight since the Space Shuttle. Now, the project turns its focus to the Preliminary Design Review (PDR), scheduled for 2008. Taking into consideration the findings of the SRR, the design of the Ares I is being tightened and refined to meet the operability, reliability, and affordability goals outlined by the Constellation Program. As directed in NASA Procedure and Regulation (NPR) 7123, NASA Systems Engineering Procedural Requirements, the Ares I SRR examined "the functional and performance requirements defined for the system and the preliminary program or project plan and ensures that the requirements and the selected concept will satisfy the mission." The SRR was conducted to ensure the system- and element-level design and interface requirements are defined prior to proceeding into the project's design phase. The Exploration Launch Projects Control Board convened on December 19,2006, and accepted the findings of the SRR and the go-forward plan proceeding to PDR. Based upon these findings, the Ares project believes that operability must drive the vehicle's design, and that a number of design challenges, including system mass and reliability, must be addressed as part of the progress to PDR.

Dumbacher, Daniel L.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Comparison of Statistical Estimation Techniques for Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Reconstruction from MEDLI-like Data Sources

Flight data from an entry, descent, and landing (EDL) sequence can be used to reconstruct the vehicle's trajectory, aerodynamic coefficients and the atmospheric profile experienced by the vehicle. Past Mars missions have contained instruments that do not provide direct measurement of the freestream atmospheric conditions. Thus, the uncertainties in the atmospheric reconstruction and the aerodynamic database knowledge could not be separated. The upcoming Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) will take measurements of the pressure distribution on the aeroshell forebody during entry and will allow freestream atmospheric conditions to be partially observable. This data provides a mean to separate atmospheric and aerodynamic uncertainties and is part of the MSL EDL Instrumentation (MEDLI) project. Methods to estimate the flight performance statistically using on-board measurements are demonstrated here through the use of simulated Mars data. Different statistical estimators are used to demonstrate which estimator best quantifies the uncertainties in the flight parameters. The techniques demonstrated herein are planned for application to the MSL flight dataset after the spacecraft lands on Mars in August 2012.

Dutta, Soumyo↗
NASA NTRS1994

Development Status of the NASA 30-cm Ion Thruster and Power Processor

Xenon ion propulsion systems are being developed by NASA Lewis Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to provide flight qualification and validation for planetary and earth-orbital missions. In the ground-test element of this program, light-weight (less than 7 kg), 30 cm diameter ion thrusters have been fabricated, and preliminary design verification tests have been conducted. At 2.3 kW, the thrust, specific impulse, and efficiency were 91 mN, 3300 s, and 0.65, respectively. An engineering model thruster is now undergoing a 2000 h wear-test. A breadboard power processor is being developed to operate from an 80 V to 120 V power bus with inverter switching frequencies of 50 kHz. The power processor design is a pathfinder and uses only three power supplies. The projected specific mass of a flight unit is about 5 kg/kW with an efficiency of 0.92 at the full-power of 2.5 kW. Preliminary integration tests of the neutralizer power supply and the ion thruster have been completed. Fabrication and test of the discharge and beam/accelerator power stages are underway.

Sovey, James S.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Spaceflight influences on ocular counterrolling and other neurovestibular reactions

Exposure to extended periods of weightlessness in orbital flight has profound effects on the neurovestibular system and influences head and eye movements, postural control, and spatial orientation. The associated space motion sickness is among the earliest of the signs of adaptation to this new environment. This report both reviews the prominent neurovestibular phenomena associated with going into space and returning to earth and relates the issues to vestibular compensation and rehabilitation. New results from the Spacelab SLS-2 mission are included, showing significant reductions in postflight ocular counterrolling and changes in ocular counterrolling left/right asymmetries after 2 weeks in space.

Review↗
NASA NTRS1993

Echocardiograms during six hours of bedrest at head-down and head-up tilt and during space flight

Left ventricular end-diastolic volume increased after 4 1/2 to 6 hours of space flight, but was significantly decreased after 5 to 6 days of space flight. To determine the role of acute gravitational effects in this phenomenon, responses to a 6-hour bedrest model of 0 gravity (G; 5 degrees head-down tilt) were compared with those of fractional gravity loads of 1/6 G, 1/3 G, and 2/3 G by using head-up tilts of 10 degrees, 20 degrees, and 42 degrees, respectively. On 4 different days, six healthy male subjects were tilted at one of the four angles for 6 hours. Cardiac dimensions and volumes were determined from two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiograms in the left lateral decubitus position at control (0), 2, 4, and 6 hours. Stroke volume decreased with time (P < .05) for all tilt angles when compared with control. Ejection fraction (EF) at -5 degrees was greater than at +20 degrees and +42 degrees (not significant); EF at +10 degrees was greater than at +42 degrees (not significant). For the tilt angles of -5 degrees, +10 degrees, and +20 degrees, mean heart rate decreased during the first 2 hours, and returned to control or was slightly elevated above control (+20 degrees) by 6 hours (not significant). At the +42 degrees angle of tilt, heart rate was increased above control at hours 2, 4, and 6. There were no significant differences in cardiac output at any time point for any tilt angle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS).

Flight Experiment↗
NASA NTRS1990

Spaceflight effects on biomechanical and biochemical properties of rat vertebrae

The biomechanical and biochemical responses of lumbar vertebral bodies during a 12.5-day spaceflight (Cosmos 1887 biosatellite) were determined for rapidly growing rats (90-day-old, Czechoslovakian-Wistar). By use of age-matched vivarium controls (normal cage environment) and synchronous controls (simulated flight conditions), as well as a basal control group (killed before lift-off on the 1st day of flight), the combined influences of growth and space-flight could be examined. Centra of the sixth lumbar vertebrae (L6) were compressed to 50% strain at a fast strain rate while immersed in physiological buffer (37 degrees C). The body masses of vivarium and synchronous controls were significantly heavier than either the flight or basal controls. The flight group had an L6 vertebral body compressional stiffness that was 39% less than the vivarium controls, 47% less than the synchronous control, and 16% less than the basal controls. In addition, the average initial maximum load of the flight L6 was 22% less than vivarium controls and 18% less than the synchronous controls, whereas the linear compressional load of the flight group averaged 34% less than the vivarium and 25% less than the synchronous groups. The structural properties of the vertebrae from the 12.5-day-younger basal group closely resembled the flight vertebrae. Calcium, phosphorous, and hydroxyproline concentrations were not significantly different among the groups. Nevertheless, the lack of strength and stiffness development in spaceflight, coupled with a smaller proportion of mature hydroxypyridinoline cross-links, suggested that the 12.5 days of spaceflight slowed the maturation of trabecular bone in the vertebral bodies of rapidly growing rats.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1989

Pharmacology in space. Part 1. Influence of adaptive changes on pharmacokinetics

The topic of pharmacology in space, i.e. the administration of drugs during space flight and the subsequent pharmacokinetic handling of the pharmaceuticals, is a new field about which little is known. In a two-part series, Claire Lathers and colleagues highlight some of the current questions in this field. In this first article the physiological and biochemical changes associated with weightlessness in space are discussed. These changes induce adaptive alterations which may influence the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs. The cardiovascular system is of particular relevance here. Also discussed are the classes of pharmacological agent that are most likely to be used during space flight for medical problems and thus, by necessity, will become drugs to be examined in space to determine whether their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties are altered. Therapy of the most common spaceflight ailment-motion sickness-will be considered next month in Part 2.

NASA Center JSC↗