298,959 research outputs found

    Power systems facility

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    In 1984, the President directed NASA to undertake the development of Space Station Freedom, the next step in a broad-based U.S. civil space program to develop space-flight capabilities and to exploit space for scientific, technological, and commercial purposes. Under that direction, NASA awarded contracts in 1985 for concept definition and preliminary design studies. Those studies have been completed and the Space Station Freedom Program is now in the final design and development phase, leading to a permanently manned space station that will be operational in the mid-1990's. Here at the Lewis Research Center, with Rocketdyne, we are developing and building the S.S. Freedom electric power system (EPS) hardware and software. A major portion of the EPS will be tested at Lewis. The Power Systems Facility was specifically designed for testing the EPS and uses the latest in testing equipment

    Light Microscopy Module Imaging Tested and Demonstrated

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    The Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR), a facility-class payload, and the Light Microscopy Module (LMM), a subrack payload, are integrated research facilities that will fly in the U.S. Laboratory module, Destiny, aboard the International Space Station. Both facilities are being engineered, designed, and developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center by Northrop Grumman Information Technology. The FIR is a modular, multiuser scientific research facility that is one of two racks that make up the Fluids and Combustion Facility (the other being the Combustion Integrated Rack). The FIR has a large volume dedicated for experimental hardware; easily reconfigurable diagnostics, power, and data systems that allow for unique experiment configurations; and customizable software. The FIR will also provide imagers, light sources, power management and control, command and data handling for facility and experiment hardware, and data processing and storage. The first payload in the FIR will be the LMM. The LMM integrated with the FIR is a remotely controllable, automated, on-orbit microscope subrack facility, with key diagnostic capabilities for meeting science requirements--including video microscopy to observe microscopic phenonema and dynamic interactions, interferometry to make thin-film measurements with nanometer resolution, laser tweezers to manipulate micrometer-sized particles, confocal microscopy to provide enhanced three-dimensional visualization of structures, and spectrophotometry to measure the photonic properties of materials. Vibration disturbances were identified early in the LMM development phase as a high risk for contaminating the science microgravity environment. An integrated FIR-LMM test was conducted in Glenn's Acoustics Test Laboratory to assess mechanical sources of vibration and their impact to microscopic imaging. The primary purpose of the test was to characterize the LMM response at the sample location, the x-y stage within the microscope, to vibration emissions from the FIR and LMM support structures

    Robotic Habitat Technologies for Minimizing Crew Maintenance Requirements

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    NASA’s Lunar Gateway aims to be deployed later in the decade and will serve as an outpost orbiting the moon. This habitat will be utilized as a base for lunar operations as well as future missions to Mars. Unlike the International Space Station (ISS), which maintains three to six astronauts at any given time, the Lunar Gateway will be uncrewed for eleven months out of the year. Over 80% of crew time onboard the ISS is dedicated to logistics, repair, and maintenance, leaving minimal time for scientific research and experimentation. In order to maintain Gateway, robotic systems must be implemented to accomplish maintenance and operational tasks. This paper discusses our team’s proposed dexterous robotic system, which will address routine and contingency operational and maintenance tasks on Gateway. The project is experimentally-based, and split into three approaches: cataloging robotic capabilities via robot/taskboard interactions, logistics management of Cargo Transfer Bags (CTBs), and software development of an AprilTag situational development system. This research project utilizes the unique capabilities of the University of Maryland (UMD) Space Systems Laboratory (SSL), which houses various dexterous robotic manipulators, mock-ups of space habitats, and the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility (NBRF), a 50-foot diameter, 25-foot deep water tank used to simulate microgravity conditions. By incorporating robotic systems into the architecture of the Lunar Gateway, it will allow for the lunar outpost to be continually operated and maintained while uncrewed, and will allow for astronauts, when present, to focus on maximizing scientific discoveries.NASA RASC-AL 202

    Yucca Mountain Saturated Zone Carbon-14

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    This Scientific Investigation Plan (SIP) provides an overview of the work described in “Yucca Mountain Saturated Zone Carbon-14”, a proposal funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Repository Development under the UCCSN/YMP Co-op in support of the Science and Technology Initiatives. The objective of this work is to provide improved estimates of the time required for ground water to travel from the site of the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to the accessible environment
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