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At least 19 records

Advancing Dust Tolerant Mechanisms for a Sustained Exploration of the Moon

Introduction: “I think dust is probably one of our greatest inhibitors to a nominal operation on the Moon. I think we can overcome other physio-logical or physical or mechanical problems except dust.”– Gene Cernan, Apollo 17 Technical Debrief The Apollo missions revealed the impact of lu-nar dust on mechanisms. Lunar dust particles are jagged and electrostatically charged, giving them the ability to bind or damage mechanisms and alter thermal properties. Reports documented clogged equipment and jammed mechanisms in every mission, regardless of surface duration, as well as clogged mechanisms in the Extravehicular Mobility Suit (EMS), including zippers, wrist and hose locks, faceplates, and sunshades [1-2]. Several astronauts remarked they could not have sustained surface activity much longer because clogged joints would have frozen up completely [2]. Effective dust mitigation strategies are need-ed to support longer duration stays on the lunar surface [3-4]. State of the Art: Technology for mechanisms able to operate in dusty enviroments is advancing rapidly due to the needs of both Mars rovers and the Artemis program. Vacuum-tight connectors are essential for spacesuits and habitats, and their performance can be dependent on cleaning technologies, which have proven difficult on the lunar surface. Several TRL 3-5 technologies are undergoing tests with the expectation to reach TRL 6 within 1-2 years. Some mechanisms will be infused and tested on the VIPER (Volatiles Inves-tigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission planned for mid-2020s. NASA Funded Efforts: NASA has recognized the need for dust tolerant mechanisms, and has partnered with industry to advance the state-of-the-art. At NASA GRC, KSC, and JSC, the Dust Tolerant Mechanisms Project is working to devel-op advanced actuator seals for rotary joints and rotary bearing technologies for long-term sus-tained operation in lunar dust environments. An-other NASA project at NASA GRC, partnered with GSFC, JPL, and KSC is Motors for Dusty & Ex-treme Cold Environments (MDECE). MDECE is developing an unheated magnetically-geared mo-tor that can operate continuously for a long dura-tion at an ambient temperature of -243 ºC (33 K). NASA GRC has the capability to characterize the effects of dust on seals, mechanisms, and other mating surfaces and components under lunar conditions [5]. Through the SBIR/STTR program, NASA has funded several companies to advance dust toler-ant mechanisms via the Dust Tolerant Mecha-nisms sub-topic with applications in surface mobil-ity, spacesuits, connectors, joints, and more. LSIC and Community Efforts: The Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) Dust Miti-gation focus group has fostered collaborations across NASA, industry, and academia to develop solutions that minimizes the impact of lunar dust on robotic and human systems. Community ef-forts have included topical meetings on dust tol-erant mechanisms, featured technology presenta-tions, and feedback to NASA on potential gaps and needs. Testing: In 2021, NASA released NASA-STD-1008 [6]. This NASA Technical Standard estab-lishes minimum requirements and provides guid-ance for testing systems and hardware to be ex-posed to dust in planetary environments. The standard has specific sections dedicated to Mechanisms Testing (e.g. bearings, gears) as well as Seals and Mating Surfaces Testing (e.g. hatches, docking systems). Gaps and Needs: NASA is tracking dust tol-erant mechanisms as a gap in a cross-directorate analysis of capability areas needed to enable fu-ture human space-flight architectures. Two high-priority gap areas include additional facilities for testing mechanisms in lunar-surface conditions, and a better understanding of vulnerabilities to the smallest, nanometer-scale dust particles. Conclusion: Understanding and mitigating lu-nar dust is critical to successful, sustained opera-tions on the lunar surface – whether autonomous or otherwise. This presentation will discuss both the state-of-the-art and open needs in lunar dust tolerant mechanisms, technology impacts, mitiga-tion approaches, testing, LSIC community efforts, and more. References: [1] Gaier, J. R. (2020). The Im-pact of Dust on Lunar Surface Equipment During Apollo. Lunar Dust 2020. [2] GRC, & Gaier, J. R. (2005). The Effects of Lunar Dust on EVA Sys-tems During the Apollo Missions. [3] Johansen, M. R. (2020). An Update on NASA’s Lunar Dust Mitigation Strategy. Lunar Dust 2020. [4] ASI, CSA, ESA, JAXA, & NASA. (2016). Dust Mitiga-tion Gap Assessment Report. [5] Jimenez, N. et al (2022), LPSC Abstract 2572. [6] NASA-STD-1008, 2021.

J I Nunez

Goal-Function Tree Modeling for Systems Engineering and Fault Management

This paper describes a new representation that enables rigorous definition and decomposition of both nominal and off-nominal system goals and functions: the Goal-Function Tree (GFT). GFTs extend the concept and process of functional decomposition, utilizing state variables as a key mechanism to ensure physical and logical consistency and completeness of the decomposition of goals (requirements) and functions, and enabling full and complete traceabilitiy to the design. The GFT also provides for means to define and represent off-nominal goals and functions that are activated when the system's nominal goals are not met. The physical accuracy of the GFT, and its ability to represent both nominal and off-nominal goals enable the GFT to be used for various analyses of the system, including assessments of the completeness and traceability of system goals and functions, the coverage of fault management failure detections, and definition of system failure scenarios.

Johnson, Stephen B.

A study of pipelining in computing arrays

Scheduling considerations in computing arrays are examined. A simple sufficient condition is developed for determining whether a computing array can be pipelined. If the array cannot be pipelined in the form given, the condition also indicates the direction in which to proceed to make it pipelineable. The overall framework and methodology take a good part of the load off the logical architect of the array, and make the translation from the logical to the physical architecture a mechanical process.

Jagadish, H. V.

Comparing host and target environments for distributed Ada programs

The Ada programming language provides a means of specifying logical concurrency by using multitasking. Extending the Ada multitasking concurrency mechanism into a physically concurrent distributed environment which imposes its own requirements can lead to incompatibilities. These problems are discussed. Using distributed Ada for a target system may be appropriate, but when using the Ada language in a host environment, a multiprocessing model may be more suitable than retargeting an Ada compiler for the distributed environment. The tradeoffs between multitasking on distributed targets and multiprocessing on distributed hosts are discussed. Comparisons of the multitasking and multiprocessing models indicate different areas of application.

Paulk, Mark C.

Scheme for Quantum Computing Immune to Decoherence

A constructive scheme has been devised to enable mapping of any quantum computation into a spintronic circuit in which the computation is encoded in a basis that is, in principle, immune to quantum decoherence. The scheme is implemented by an algorithm that utilizes multiple physical spins to encode each logical bit in such a way that collective errors affecting all the physical spins do not disturb the logical bit. The scheme is expected to be of use to experimenters working on spintronic implementations of quantum logic. Spintronic computing devices use quantum-mechanical spins (typically, electron spins) to encode logical bits. Bits thus encoded (denoted qubits) are potentially susceptible to errors caused by noise and decoherence. The traditional model of quantum computation is based partly on the assumption that each qubit is implemented by use of a single two-state quantum system, such as an electron or other spin-1.2 particle. It can be surprisingly difficult to achieve certain gate operations . most notably, those of arbitrary 1-qubit gates . in spintronic hardware according to this model. However, ironically, certain 2-qubit interactions (in particular, spin-spin exchange interactions) can be achieved relatively easily in spintronic hardware. Therefore, it would be fortunate if it were possible to implement any 1-qubit gate by use of a spin-spin exchange interaction. While such a direct representation is not possible, it is possible to achieve an arbitrary 1-qubit gate indirectly by means of a sequence of four spin-spin exchange interactions, which could be implemented by use of four exchange gates. Accordingly, the present scheme provides for mapping any 1-qubit gate in the logical basis into an equivalent sequence of at most four spin-spin exchange interactions in the physical (encoded) basis. The complexity of the mathematical derivation of the scheme from basic quantum principles precludes a description within this article; it must suffice to report that the derivation provides explicit constructions for finding the exchange couplings in the physical basis needed to implement any arbitrary 1-qubit gate. These constructions lead to spintronic encodings of quantum logic that are more efficient than those of a previously published scheme that utilizes a universal but fixed set of gates.

Williams, Colin

The Necessity of Functional Analysis for Space Exploration Programs

As NASA moves toward expanded commercial spaceflight within its human exploration capability, there is increased emphasis on how to allocate responsibilities between government and commercial organizations to achieve coordinated program objectives. The practice of program-level functional analysis offers an opportunity for improved understanding of collaborative functions among heterogeneous partners. Functional analysis is contrasted with the physical analysis more commonly done at the program level, and is shown to provide theoretical performance, risk, and safety advantages beneficial to a government-commercial partnership. Performance advantages include faster convergence to acceptable system solutions; discovery of superior solutions with higher commonality, greater simplicity and greater parallelism by substituting functional for physical redundancy to achieve robustness and safety goals; and greater organizational cohesion around program objectives. Risk advantages include avoidance of rework by revelation of some kinds of architectural and contractual mismatches before systems are specified, designed, constructed, or integrated; avoidance of cost and schedule growth by more complete and precise specifications of cost and schedule estimates; and higher likelihood of successful integration on the first try. Safety advantages include effective delineation of must-work and must-not-work functions for integrated hazard analysis, the ability to formally demonstrate completeness of safety analyses, and provably correct logic for certification of flight readiness. The key mechanism for realizing these benefits is the development of an inter-functional architecture at the program level, which reveals relationships between top-level system requirements that would otherwise be invisible using only a physical architecture. This paper describes the advantages and pitfalls of functional analysis as a means of coordinating the actions of large heterogeneous organizations for space exploration programs.

program management

Design and Principles Enabling the Space Reference FOM

A first complete draft of the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) Space Reference Federation Object Model (FOM) has now been produced. This paper provides some insights into its capabilities and discusses the opportunity for reuse in other domains. The focus of this first version of the standard is execution control, time management and coordinate systems, well-known reference frames, as well as some basic support for physical entities. The biggest part of the execution control is the coordinated start-up process. This process contains a number of steps, including checking of required federates, handling of early versus late joiners, sharing of federation wide configuration data and multi-phase initialization. An additional part of Execution Control is the coordinated and synchronized transition between Run mode, Freeze mode and Shutdown. For time management, several time lines are defined, including real-time, scenario time, High Level Architecture (HLA) logical time and physical time. A strategy for mixing simulations that use different time steps is introduced, as well as an approach for finding common boundaries for fully synchronized freeze. For describing spatial information, a mechanism with a set of reference frames is specified. Each reference frame has a position and orientation related to a parent reference frame. This makes it possible for federates to perform calculations in reference frames that are convenient to them. An operation on the Moon can be performed using lunar coordinates whereas an operation on Earth can be performed using Earth coordinates. At the same time, coordinates in one reference frame have an unambiguous relationship to a coordinate in another reference frame. While the Space Reference FOM is originally being developed for Space operations, the authors believe that many parts of it can be reused for any simulation that has a focus on physical processes with one or more coordinate systems, and require high fidelity and repeatability.

Moeller, Bjoern

Simulation Development and Analysis of Crew Vehicle Ascent Abort

NASA's Commercial Crew Program is an integral step in its journey to Mars as it would expedite development of space technologies and open up partnership with U.S. commercial companies. NASA reviews and independent assessment of Commercial Crew Program is fundamental to its success, and being able to model a commercial crew vehicle in a simulation rather than conduct a live test would be a safer, faster, and less expensive way to assess and certify the capabilities of the vehicle. To this end, my project was to determine the feasibility of using a simulation tool named SOMBAT version 2.0 to model a multiple parachute system for Commercial Crew Program simulation. The main tasks assigned to me were to debug and test the main parachute system model, (capable of simulating one to four main parachute bodies), and to utilize a graphical program to animate the simulation results. To begin tackling the first task, I learned how to use SOMBAT by familiarizing myself with its mechanics and by understanding the methods used to tweak its various parameters and outputs. I then used this new knowledge to set up, run, and analyze many different situations within SOMBAT in order to explore the limitations of the parachute model. Some examples of parameters that I varied include the initial velocity and orientation of the falling capsule, the number of main parachutes, and the location where the parachutes were attached to the capsule. Each parameter changed would give a different output, and in some cases, would expose a bug or limitation in the model. A major bug that I discovered was the inability of the model to handle any number of parachutes other than three. I spent quite some time trying to debug the code logically, but was unable to figure it out until my mentor taught me that digital simulation limitations can occur when some approximations are mistakenly assumed for certain in a physical system. This led me to the realization that unlike in all of the programming classes I have taken thus far that focus on pure logic, simulation code focuses on mimicking the physical world with some approximation and can have inaccuracies or numerical instabilities. Learning from my mistake, I adopted new methods to analyze these different simulations. One method the student used was to numerically plot various physical parameters using MATLAB to confirm the mechanical behavior of the system in addition to comparing the data to the output from a separate simulation tool called FAST. By having full control over what was being outputted from the simulation, I could choose which parameters to change and to plot as well as how to plot them, allowing for an in depth analysis of the data. Another method of analysis was to convert the output data into a graphical animation. Unlike the numerical plots, where all of the physical components were displayed separately, this graphical display allows for a combined look at the simulation output that makes it much easier for one to see the physical behavior of the model. The process for converting SOMBAT output for EDGE graphical display had to be developed. With some guidance from other EDGE users, I developed a process and created a script that would easily allow one to display simulations graphically. Another limitation with the SOMBAT model was the inability for the capsule to have the main parachutes instantly deployed with a large angle between the air speed vector and the chutes drag vector. To explore this problem, I had to learn about different coordinate frames used in Guidance, Navigation & Control (J2000, ECEF, ENU, etc.) to describe the motion of a vehicle and about Euler angles (e.g. Roll, Pitch, Yaw) to describe the orientation of the vehicle. With a thorough explanation from my mentor about the description of each coordinate frame, as well as how to use a directional cosine matrix to transform one frame to another, I investigated the problem by simulating different capsule orientations. In the end, I was able to show that this limitation could be avoided if the capsule is initially oriented antiparallel to its velocity vector.

Wong, Chi S.

Genetic algorithm based fuzzy control of spacecraft autonomous rendezvous

The U.S. Bureau of Mines is currently investigating ways to combine the control capabilities of fuzzy logic with the learning capabilities of genetic algorithms. Fuzzy logic allows for the uncertainty inherent in most control problems to be incorporated into conventional expert systems. Although fuzzy logic based expert systems have been used successfully for controlling a number of physical systems, the selection of acceptable fuzzy membership functions has generally been a subjective decision. High performance fuzzy membership functions for a fuzzy logic controller that manipulates a mathematical model simulating the autonomous rendezvous of spacecraft are learned using a genetic algorithm, a search technique based on the mechanics of natural genetics. The membership functions learned by the genetic algorithm provide for a more efficient fuzzy logic controller than membership functions selected by the authors for the rendezvous problem. Thus, genetic algorithms are potentially an effective and structured approach for learning fuzzy membership functions.

Karr, C. L.

Exploring Carbon Nanotubes for Nanoscale Devices

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are shown to promise great opportunities in nanoelectronic devices and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) because of their inherent nanoscale sizes, intrinsic electric conductivities, and seamless hexagonal network architectures. I present our collaborative work with Stanford on exploring CNTs for nanodevices in this talk. The electrical property measurements suggest that metallic tubes are quantum wires. Furthermore, two and three terminal CNT junctions have been observed experimentally. We have proposed and studied CNT-based molecular switches and logic devices for future digital electronics. We also have studied CNTs based NEMS inclusing gears, cantilevers, and scanning probe microscopy tips. We investigate both chemistry and physics based aspects of the CNT NEMS. Our results suggest that CNT have ideal stiffness, vibrational frequencies, Q-factors, geometry-dependent electric conductivities, and the highest chemical and mechanical stabilities for the NEMS. The use of CNT SPM tips for nanolithography is presented for demonstration of the advantages of the CNT NEMS.

Han, Jie

Authentication, Time-Stamping and Digital Signatures

Time and frequency data are often transmitted over public packet-switched networks, and the use of this mode of distribution is likely to increase in the near future as high-speed logical circuits transmitted via networks replace point-to-point physical circuits. ALthough these networks have many technical advantages, they are susceptible to evesdropping, spoofing, and the alteration of messages enroute using techniques that are relatively simple to implement and quite difficult to detect. I will discuss a number of solutions to these problems, including the authentication mechanism used in the Network Time Protocol (NTP) and the more general technique of signing time-stamps using public key cryptography. This public key method can also be used to implement the digital analog of a Notary Public, and I will discuss how such a system could be realized on a public network such as the Internet.

Levine, Judah

Nonthermal radio emission from hot star winds: Its origin and physical implications

Nonthermal radio emission has been observed from some of the most luminous hot star winds. It is understood to be synchrotron radiation of the relativistic electrons in the winds. To understand how the electrons are accelerated to such high energies and to correctly explain the observed radio flux and spectra require an exhaustive investigation of all the relevant physical processes involved and possibly point to a complex wind structure. In this paper we discuss the logical path toward a comprehensive model of the nonthermal radio emission from hot star winds. Based on the available observational data and fundamental theoretical considerations, we found that the only physically viable and self-consistent scenario is: the nonthermal radio emission is synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons the electrons are accelerated by shocks via the first-order Fermi mechanism the acceleration has to be in situ in the radio emitting region and the shocks formed at the base of the winds have to propagate to beyond the radio photosphere.

Chen, Wan

Nonthermal Radio Emission from Hot Star Winds: Its Origin and Physical Implications

Nonthermal radio emission has been observed from some of the most luminous hot star winds. It is understood to be synchrotron radiation of the relativistic electrons in the winds. To understand how the electrons are accelerated to such high energies and to correctly explain the observed radio flux and spectra require an exhaustive investigation of all the relevant physical processes involved and possibly point to a complex wind structure. In this paper we discuss the logical path toward a comprehensive model of the nonthermal radio emission from hot star winds. Based on the available observational data and fundamental theoretical considerations, we found that the only physically viable and self-consistent scenario is: the nonthermal radio emission is synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons (left right harpoon) the electrons are accelerated by shocks via the first-order Fermi mechanism (left right harpoon) the acceleration has to be in situ in the radio emitting region (left right harpoon) the shocks formed at the base of the winds have to propagate to beyond the radio photosphere.

Chen, Wan

A formal model of asynchronous communication and its use in mechanically verifying a biphase mark protocol

In this paper we present a formal model of asynchronous communication as a function in the Boyer-Moore logic. The function transforms the signal stream generated by one processor into the signal stream consumed by an independently clocked processor. This transformation 'blurs' edges and 'dilates' time due to differences in the phases and rates of the two clocks and the communications delay. The model can be used quantitatively to derive concrete performance bounds on asynchronous communications at ISO protocol level 1 (physical level). We develop part of the reusable formal theory that permits the convenient application of the model. We use the theory to show that a biphase mark protocol can be used to send messages of arbitrary length between two asynchronous processors. We study two versions of the protocol, a conventional one which uses cells of size 32 cycles and an unconventional one which uses cells of size 18. We conjecture that the protocol can be proved to work under our model for smaller cell sizes and more divergent clock rates but the proofs would be harder.

Moore, J. Strother

Fuel-Efficient Descent and Landing Guidance Logic for a Safe Lunar Touchdown

The landing of a crewed lunar lander on the surface of the Moon will be the climax of any Moon mission. At touchdown, the landing mechanism must absorb the load imparted on the lander due to the vertical component of the lander's touchdown velocity. Also, a large horizontal velocity must be avoided because it could cause the lander to tip over, risking the life of the crew. To be conservative, the worst-case lander's touchdown velocity is always assumed in designing the landing mechanism, making it very heavy. Fuel-optimal guidance algorithms for soft planetary landing have been studied extensively. In most of these studies, the lander is constrained to touchdown with zero velocity. With bounds imposed on the magnitude of the engine thrust, the optimal control solutions typically have a "bang-bang" thrust profile: the thrust magnitude "bangs" instantaneously between its maximum and minimum magnitudes. But the descent engine might not be able to throttle between its extremes instantaneously. There is also a concern about the acceptability of "bang-bang" control to the crew. In our study, the optimal control of a lander is formulated with a cost function that penalizes both the touchdown velocity and the fuel cost of the descent engine. In this formulation, there is not a requirement to achieve a zero touchdown velocity. Only a touchdown velocity that is consistent with the capability of the landing gear design is required. Also, since the nominal throttle level for the terminal descent sub-phase is well below the peak engine thrust, no bound on the engine thrust is used in our formulated problem. Instead of bangbang type solution, the optimal thrust generated is a continuous function of time. With this formulation, we can easily derive analytical expressions for the optimal thrust vector, touchdown velocity components, and other system variables. These expressions provide insights into the "physics" of the optimal landing and terminal descent maneuver. These insights could help engineers to achieve a better "balance" between the conflicting needs of achieving a safe touchdown velocity, a low-weight landing mechanism, low engine fuel cost, and other design goals. In comparing the computed optimal control results with the preflight landing trajectory design of the Apollo-11 mission, we noted interesting similarities between the two missions.

guidance logic

GLOBEC: Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics: A component of the US Global Change Research Program

GLOBEC (GLOBal ocean ECosystems dynamics) is a research initiative proposed by the oceanographic and fisheries communities to address the question of how changes in global environment are expected to affect the abundance and production of animals in the sea. The approach to this problem is to develop a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that determine both the abundance of key marine animal populations and their variances in space and time. The assumption is that the physical environment is a major contributor to patterns of abundance and production of marine animals, in large part because the planktonic life stages typical of most marine animals are intrinsically at the mercy of the fluid motions of the medium in which they live. Consequently, the authors reason that a logical approach to predicting the potential impact of a globally changing environment is to understand how the physical environment, both directly and indirectly, contributes to animal abundance and its variability in marine ecosystems. The plans for this coordinated study of of the potential impact of global change on ocean ecosystems dynamics are discussed.

Source record

Global models: Robot sensing, control, and sensory-motor skills

Robotics research has begun to address the modeling and implementation of a wide variety of unstructured tasks. Examples include automated navigation, platform servicing, custom fabrication and repair, deployment and recovery, and science exploration. Such tasks are poorly described at onset; the workspace layout is partially unfamiliar, and the task control sequence is only qualitatively characterized. The robot must model the workspace, plan detailed physical actions from qualitative goals, and adapt its instantaneous control regimes to unpredicted events. Developing robust representations and computational approaches for these sensing, planning, and control functions is a major challenge. The underlying domain constraints are very general, and seem to offer little guidance for well-bounded approximation of object shape and motion, manipulation postures and trajectories, and the like. This generalized modeling problem is discussed, with an emphasis on the role of sensing. It is also discussed that unstructured tasks often have, in fact, a high degree of underlying physical symmetry, and such implicit knowledge should be drawn on to model task performance strategies in a methodological fashion. A group-theoretic decomposition of the workspace organization, task goals, and their admissible interactions are proposed. This group-mechanical approach to task representation helps to clarify the functional interplay of perception and control, in essence, describing what perception is specifically for, versus how it is generically modeled. One also gains insight how perception might logically evolve in response to needs of more complex motor skills. It is discussed why, of the many solutions that are often mathematically admissible to a given sensory motor-coordination problem, one may be preferred over others.

Schenker, Paul S.

Computational Methods for Structural Mechanics and Dynamics, part 1

The structural analysis methods research has several goals. One goal is to develop analysis methods that are general. This goal of generality leads naturally to finite-element methods, but the research will also include other structural analysis methods. Another goal is that the methods be amenable to error analysis; that is, given a physical problem and a mathematical model of that problem, an analyst would like to know the probable error in predicting a given response quantity. The ultimate objective is to specify the error tolerances and to use automated logic to adjust the mathematical model or solution strategy to obtain that accuracy. A third goal is to develop structural analysis methods that can exploit parallel processing computers. The structural analysis methods research will focus initially on three types of problems: local/global nonlinear stress analysis, nonlinear transient dynamics, and tire modeling.

Stroud, W. Jefferson