Stardust Entry Reconstruction

An overview of the reconstruction analyses performed for the Stardust capsule entry is described. The results indicate that the actual entry was very close to the pre-entry predictions. The capsule landed 8.1 km north-northwest of the desired target at Utah Test and Training Range. Analyses of infrared video footage and radar range data (obtained from tracking stations) during the descent show that drogue parachute deployment was 4.8 s later than the pre-entry prediction, while main parachute deployment was 19.3 s earlier than the pre-set timer indicating that main deployment was actually triggered by the backup baroswitch. Reconstruction of a best estimated trajectory revealed that the aerodynamic drag experienced by the capsule during hypersonic flight was within 1% of pre-entry predications. Observations of the heatshield support the pre-entry estimates of small hypersonic angles of attack, since there was very little, if any, charring of the shoulder region or the aftbody. Through this investigation, an overall assertion can be made that all the data gathered from the Stardust capsule entry were consistent with flight performance close to nominal pre-entry predictions. Consequently, the design principles and methodologies utilized for the flight dynamics, aerodynamics, and aerothermodynamics analyses have been corroborated

Reconstruction of the Genesis Entry

An overview of the reconstruction analyses performed for the Genesis capsule entry is described. The results indicate that the actual entry prior to the drogue deployment failure was very close to the pre-entry predictions. The capsule landed 8.3 km south of the desired target at Utah Test and Training Range. Analysis on infrared video footage (obtained from the tracking stations) during the descent estimated the onset of the capsule tumble at Mach 0.9. Frequency analysis on the infrared video data indicates that the aerodynamics generated for the Genesis capsule reasonably predicted the drag and static stability. Observations of the heatshield support the pre-entry simulation estimates of a small hypersonic angles-of-attack, since there is very little, if any, charring of the shoulder region or the aftbody. Through this investigation, an overall assertion can be made that all the data gathered from the Genesis entry is consistent with flight performance that was close to the nominal preentry prediction. Consequently, the design principles and methodologies utilized for the flight dynamics, aerodynamics, and aerothermodynamics analyses have been corroborated

Trajectory Reconstruction for the Genesis Entry

An overview of the reconstruction analyses performed for the Genesis capsule entry is described. The results indicate that the actual entry prior to the drogue deployment failure was very close to the pre-entry predictions. The capsule landed 8.3 km south of the desired target at Utah Test and Training Range. Analysis on infrared video footage (obtained from the tracking stations) during the descent estimated the onset of the capsule tumble at Mach 0.9. Frequency analysis on the infrared video data indicates that the aerodynamics generated for the Genesis capsule reasonably predicted the drag and static stability. Observations of the heatshield support the pre-entry simulation estimates of a small hypersonic angles-of-attack, since there is very little, if any, charring of the shoulder region or the afterbody. Through this investigation, an overall assertion can be made that all the data gathered from the Genesis entry is consistent with flight performance close to the nominal pre-entry prediction. Consequently, the design principles and methodologies utilized for the flight dynamics, aerodynamics, and aerothermodynamics analyses have been corroborated

Reconstruction of the Stardust Entry

An overview of the reconstruction analyses performed for the Stardust capsule entry is described. The results indicate that the actual entry was very close to the pre-entry predictions. The capsule landed 8.1 km northwest of the desired target at Utah Test and Training Range. Frequency analysis on the infrared video data indicates that the aerodynamics generated for the Stardust capsule reasonably predicted the drag and static stability. Observations of the heatshield support the pre-entry simulation estimates of a small hypersonic angles-of-attack, since there is very little, if any, charring of the shoulder region or the aftbody. Through this investigation, an overall assertion can be made that all the data gathered from the Stardust entry is consistent with flight performance close to the nominal pre-entry prediction. Consequently, the design principles and methodologies utilized for the flight dynamics, aerodynamics, and aerothermodynamics analyses have been corroborated

A Rat Body Phantom for Radiation Analysis

To reduce the uncertainties associated with estimating the biological effects of ionizing radiation in tissue, researchers rely on laboratory experiments in which mono-energetic, single specie beams are applied to cell cultures, insects, and small animals. To estimate the radiation effects on astronauts in deep space or low Earth orbit, who are exposed to mixed field broad spectrum radiation, these experimental results are extrapolated and combined with other data to produce radiation quality factors, radiation weighting factors, and other risk related quantities for humans. One way to reduce the uncertainty associated with such extrapolations is to utilize analysis tools that are applicable to both laboratory and space environments. The use of physical and computational body phantoms to predict radiation exposure and its effects is well established and a wide range of human and non-human phantoms are in use today. In this paper, a computational rat phantom is presented, as well as a description of the process through which that phantom has been coupled to existing radiation analysis tools. Sample results are presented for two space radiation environments

Cross Section Sensitivity and Propagated Errors in HZE Exposures

It has long been recognized that galactic cosmic rays are of such high energy that they tend to pass through available shielding materials resulting in exposure of astronauts and equipment within space vehicles and habitats. Any protection provided by shielding materials result not so much from stopping such particles but by changing their physical character in interaction with shielding material nuclei forming, hopefully, less dangerous species. Clearly, the fidelity of the nuclear cross-sections is essential to correct specification of shield design and sensitivity to cross-section error is important in guiding experimental validation of cross-section models and database. We examine the Boltzmann transport equation which is used to calculate dose equivalent during solar minimum, with units (cSv/yr), associated with various depths of shielding materials. The dose equivalent is a weighted sum of contributions from neutrons, protons, light ions, medium ions and heavy ions. We investigate the sensitivity of dose equivalent calculations due to errors in nuclear fragmentation cross-sections. We do this error analysis for all possible projectile-fragment combinations (14,365 such combinations) to estimate the sensitivity of the shielding calculations to errors in the nuclear fragmentation cross-sections. Numerical differentiation with respect to the cross-sections will be evaluated in a broad class of materials including polyethylene, aluminum and copper. We will identify the most important cross-sections for further experimental study and evaluate their impact on propagated errors in shielding estimates

Towards an Open, Distributed Software Architecture for UxS Operations

To address the growing need to evaluate, test, and certify an ever expanding ecosystem of UxS platforms in preparation of cultural integration, NASA Langley Research Center's Autonomy Incubator (AI) has taken on the challenge of developing a software framework in which UxS platforms developed by third parties can be integrated into a single system which provides evaluation and testing, mission planning and operation, and out-of-the-box autonomy and data fusion capabilities. This software framework, named AEON (Autonomous Entity Operations Network), has two main goals. The first goal is the development of a cross-platform, extensible, onboard software system that provides autonomy at the mission execution and course-planning level, a highly configurable data fusion framework sensitive to the platform's available sensor hardware, and plug-and-play compatibility with a wide array of computer systems, sensors, software, and controls hardware. The second goal is the development of a ground control system that acts as a test-bed for integration of the proposed heterogeneous fleet, and allows for complex mission planning, tracking, and debugging capabilities. The ground control system should also be highly extensible and allow plug-and-play interoperability with third party software systems. In order to achieve these goals, this paper proposes an open, distributed software architecture which utilizes at its core the Data Distribution Service (DDS) standards, established by the Object Management Group (OMG), for inter-process communication and data flow. The design decisions proposed herein leverage the advantages of existing robotics software architectures and the DDS standards to develop software that is scalable, high-performance, fault tolerant, modular, and readily interoperable with external platforms and software

Analysis of Mass Averaged Tissue Doses in CAM, CAF, MAX, and FAX

To estimate astronaut health risk due to space radiation, one must have the ability to calculate exposure-related quantities averaged over specific organs and tissue types. In this study, we first examine the anatomical properties of the Computerized Anatomical Man (CAM), Computerized Anatomical Female (CAF), Male Adult voXel (MAX), and Female Adult voXel (FAX) models by comparing the masses of various tissues to the reference values specified by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Major discrepancies are found between the CAM and CAF tissue masses and the ICRP reference data for almost all of the tissues. We next examine the distribution of target points used with the deterministic transport code HZETRN to compute mass averaged exposure quantities. A numerical algorithm is used to generate multiple point distributions for many of the effective dose tissues identified in CAM, CAF, MAX, and FAX. It is concluded that the previously published CAM and CAF point distributions were under-sampled and that the set of point distributions presented here should be adequate for future studies involving CAM, CAF, MAX, or FAX. It is concluded that MAX and FAX are more accurate than CAM and CAF for space radiation analyses

Collaborating with Autonomous Agents

With the anticipated increase of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) entering into the National Airspace System, it is highly likely that vehicle operators will be teaming with fleets of small autonomous vehicles. The small vehicles may consist of sUAS, which are 55 pounds or less that typically will y at altitudes 400 feet and below, and small ground vehicles typically operating in buildings or defined small campuses. Typically, the vehicle operators are not concerned with manual control of the vehicle; instead they are concerned with the overall mission. In order for this vision of high-level mission operators working with fleets of vehicles to come to fruition, many human factors related challenges must be investigated and solved. First, the interface between the human operator and the autonomous agent must be at a level that the operator needs and the agents can understand. This paper details the natural language human factors e orts that NASA Langley's Autonomy Incubator is focusing on. In particular these e orts focus on allowing the operator to interact with the system using speech and gestures rather than a mouse and keyboard. With this ability of the system to understand both speech and gestures, operators not familiar with the vehicle dynamics will be able to easily plan, initiate, and change missions using a language familiar to them rather than having to learn and converse in the vehicle's language. This will foster better teaming between the operator and the autonomous agent which will help lower workload, increase situation awareness, and improve performance of the system as a whole

Advances in Space Radiation Shielding Codes

Early space radiation shield code development relied on Monte Carlo methods and made important contributions to the space program. Monte Carlo methods have resorted to restricted one-dimensional problems leading to imperfect representation of appropriate boundary conditions. Even so, intensive computational requirements resulted and shield evaluation was made near the end of the design process. Resolving shielding issues usually had a negative impact on the design. Improved spacecraft shield design requires early entry of radiation constraints into the design process to maximize performance and minimize costs. As a result, we have been investigating high-speed computational procedures to allow shield analysis from the preliminary concept to the final design. For the last few decades, we have pursued deterministic solutions of the Boltzmann equation allowing field mapping within the International Space Station (ISS) in tens of minutes using standard Finite Element Method (FEM) geometry common to engineering design methods. A single ray trace in such geometry requires 14 milliseconds and limits application of Monte Carlo methods to such engineering models. A potential means of improving the Monte Carlo efficiency in coupling to spacecraft geometry is given