The methodology developed under this grant is primarily an effort to develop new sub-payload technologies and an inexpensive method of testing them. The three technical goals are: (1) to improve and test the existing spring sub-payload ejection system and rocket propelled ejection system, (2) to test the performance of ampule-deployed radar chaff (rather than TMA) to track high altitude winds, and (3) to develop and test sensor and telemetry packages to monitor the attitude stability and position of deployed sub-payloads.  The proposed effort will also demonstrate very low cost, low altitude rockets as an inexpensive flight test of payloads prior to expensive sounding rocket deployments. The payloads tested on 5 to 7 low-cost rockets will be (1) foil chaff designed for radar tracking of mesospheric winds, (2) plasma instruments composed of GPS monitors, magnetometers, and accelerometers, and (3) android phones for the investigation of off-the-shell instrumentation and telemetry.  Finally, a campaign of 2 to 4 sounding rocket deployments on ‘as-available’ flights from Poker Flats will be used to test spring ejection without spin up, spring ejection with spin up for sub-payload attitude control, and rocket ejection

Originally designed to carry the towering Saturn V moon rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the seaside launch site, the enormous transporters now carry the space shuttles to the launch pads for liftoff. Polygons: 146050 Vertices: 141658

Originally designed to carry the towering Saturn V moon rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the seaside launch site, the enormous transporters now carry the space shuttles to the launch pads for liftoff. Polygons: 146050 Vertices: 141658

Strategic technology development to support future ExEP projects.

Low specific mass (< 3  kg/kW) in-space electric power and propulsion can drastically alter the paradigm for exploration of the Solar System, changing human Mars exploration from a 3-year epic event to an annual expedition.   A specific mass of ~1 kg/kW can enable 1-year round-trips to Mars, regardless of alignment, with the same launch mass to low Earth orbit (350 mT) estimated by the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 study for a 3-year conjunction mission. Key to achieving such a propulsion capability is the ability to convert, at high efficiency and with only minimal losses rejected as heat via radiators, the energy of charged particle reaction products originating from an advanced fission or aneutronic fusion source directly into electricity conditioned as required to power an electric thruster.  The TWDEC concept accomplishes this by converting particle beam energy into radio frequency (RF) alternating current electrical power, such as can be used to heat the propellant in a plasma thruster.

This project is core to the development of multi-MW power for electric propulsion.  The technology developed will enable high power systems which have specific mass in the low single-digits and which are sun-independent, require no neutron shielding, and produce no radioactive waste.  The power levels and specific mass this technology could provide will, when combined with either high-efficiency Q-thrusters or VASIMR-class plasma thrusters, enable rapid human missions to Mars and beyond.     Project Infusion Path: Low specific mass (a – kg/kWe) in-space electric power and propulsion can drastically alter the paradigm for exploration of the Solar System, changing human Mars exploration from a 3-year epic event to an annual expedition.   An a of ~1 kg/kWe can enable 1-year round-trips to Mars, regardless of opportunity, with the same launch mass to low Earth orbit (350 mT) estimated by the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 study for a 3-year conjunction mission. Key to achieving such a propulsion capability is the ability to convert, at high efficiency and with only minimal losses rejected as heat via radiators, the energy of charged particle reaction products originating from an aneutronic fusion source directly into electricity conditioned as required to power an electric thruster. The TWDEC concept (originally conceived in Japan in the 1990’s for terrestrial fusion applications) accomplishes this by converting particle beam energy into radio frequency (RF) alternating current electrical power, such as can be used to heat the propellant in a VASIMR-class plasma thruster. In a more advanced concept (explored in a 2012 Phase 1 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) project), the TWDEC could also be utilized to condition the particle beam such that it may transfer directed kinetic energy to a target propellant plasma for the purpose of increasing thrust and optimizing the specific impulse.  While other government agencies and/or industry partners are pursuing aneutronic fusion reactors and plasma propulsion, NASA JSC is the only entity advancing this core energy conversion technology. With successful development of this system by NASA and its partners, an intermediate NASA infusion step would demonstrate megawatt-class aneutronic fusion, TWDEC, and electric propulsion (e.g., Q-thruster, VASIMR) systems on robotic missions to the Jovian moons.  Human vehicle system development would then integrate such systems into the “ultimate” NASA application:  sustainable, routine human exploration of Mars and, with successful Q-thruster development, beyond.

Project Infusion Path:

Low specific mass (a – kg/kW_e) in-spac

The Propulsion IVHM Technology Experiment (PITEX) has been an on-going research effort conducted over several years. PITEX has developed and applied a model-based diagnostic system for the main propulsion system of the X-34 reusable launch vehicle, a space-launch technology demonstrator. The application was simulation-based using detailed models of the propulsion subsystem to generate nominal and failure scenarios during captive carry, which is the most safety-critical portion of the X-34 flight. Since no system-level testing of the X-34 Main Propulsion System (MPS) was performed, these simulated data were used to verify and validate the software system. Advanced diagnostic and signal processing algorithms were developed and tested in real-time on flight-like hardware. In an attempt to expose potential performance problems, these PITEX algorithms were subject to numerous real-world effects in the simulated data including noise, sensor resolution, command/valve talkback information, and nominal build variations. The current research has demonstrated the potential benefits of model-based diagnostics, defined the performance metrics required to evaluate the diagnostic system, and studied the impact of real-world challenges encountered when monitoring propulsion subsystems.

A list of launch vehicles launched for NASA missions in 1999.

Overview

GMAT is a feature rich system containing high fidelity space system models, optimization and targeting,
built in scripting and programming infrastructure, and customizable plots, reports and data
products, to enable flexible analysis and solutions for custom and unique applications. GMAT can
be driven from a fully featured, interactive GUI or from a custom script language. Here are some
of GMAT’s key features broken down by feature group.

Dynamics and Environment Modelling

• High fidelity dynamics models including harmonic gravity, drag, tides, and relativistic corrections
• High fidelity spacecraft modeling
• Formations and constellations
• Impulsive and finite maneuver modeling and optimization
• Propulsion system modeling including tanks and thrusters
• Solar System modeling including high fidelity ephemerides, custom celestial bodies, libration points, and barycenters
• Rich set of coordinate system including J2000, ICRF, fixed, rotating, topocentric, and many others
• SPICE kernel propagation
• Propagators that naturally synchronize epochs of multiple vehicles and avoid fixed step integration
• and interpolation

Plotting, Reporting and Product Generation

• Interactive 3-D graphics
• Customizable data plots and reports
• Post computation animation
• CCSDS, SPK, and Code-500 ephemeris generation

Optimization and Targeting

• Boundary value targeters
• Nonlinear, constrained optimization
• Custom, scriptable cost functions
• Custom, scriptable nonlinear equality and inequality constraint functions
• Custom targeter controls and constraints

Programming Infrastructure

• User defined variables, arrays, and strings
• User defined equations using MATLAB syntax. (i.e. overloaded array operation)
• Control flow such as If, For, and While loops for custom applications
• Matlab interface
• Built in parameters and calculations in multiple coordinate systems

Interfaces

• Fully featured, interactive GUI that makes simple analysis quick and easy
• Custom scripting language that makes complex, custom analysis possible
• Matlab interface for custom external simulations and calculations
• File interface for the TCOPS Vector Hold

During 2014, the Robotic ISRU Resource Acquisition project element will develop two technologies:

• Exploration Ground Data Systems (xGDS)
• Sample Acquisition on Asteroids, Mars, Moons of Mars, and Lunar Cold Traps

A primary technology of this element is development of HRS’s Exploration Ground Data Systems (xGDS) software, a set of planning, monitoring, archiving, and search tools for dealing with data sent to or received from robotic spacecraft or crew systems.  xGDS is being matured through technology development under HRS (with STMD funds) and field-tested with funds from the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and Science Mission Directorate (SMD).  The outcome of this development will be that the desired parts of the xGDS system (likely the traverse planner, real time plotting, and raster mapping tools) will be ready to be infused into the lunar Resource Prospector Mission (RPM).  The scope of FY14 xGDS work includes maturing time delayed image and video processing and archiving tools and adding support for mobile devices.  During 2014, xGDS will support the AES-funded Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) payload thermal vacuum chamber testing the SMD-funded Mojave Volatiles Prospector (MVP) project. 

Another technology under this element will develop regolith sampling and excavation for reduced and low gravity environments.  The objective for this work in FY14 is to acquire representative samples of target bodies in order to characterize the regolith for ISRU prospecting purposes which would also benefit science objectives and other relevant Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKG’s). The requirements of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) lunar Resource Prospector (RP) are focused on a lunar South pole mission near the impact site of the recent Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission in order to obtain ground truth on the lunar surface.  Orbital data from neutron spectrometers shows that most of the detected hydrogen on the moon is in these crater floor cold traps. The goal is to confirm the existence of volatiles such as water, hydrogen and helium in the regolith at the lunar poles.  Other target bodies such as asteroids and Mars’ moons will also need prospecting and characterization. One of the primary potential uses of the returned asteroid in the Asteroid Initiative is for ISRU demonstrations in lunar orbit.  Sampling devices will be needed to prospect the asteroid for useful resources, such as water on a carbonaceous condrite. The Mars’ moons and Mars itself are also of interest for ISRU purposes and can be sampled with robotic devices or by human crews to determine the ISRU value of their regolith.

Regolith excavation and sample acquisition in low gravity environments ( micro-G, 1/3 G, 1/6th G) is difficult due to the lack of reaction force from the weight of the excavation robot.  On Earth, excavators are typically large and heavy to take advantage of this large reaction force to counter-act the digging forces. In space, new methods of digging and sampling must be found, due to their light weight in low gravity environments.  Percussive excavation is one method for reducing digging forces, and in FY14, the HRS project will test interfaces for a large percussive excavation end effector: the Vibratory Implement for Percussive Excavation of Regolith (VIPER) which is designed to be mounted on the All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) robot from JPL. The VIPER was designed and fabricated by HRS. A smaller percussive excavation implement called Badger, will be operated on the Centaur 2 mobility robot with a positioning mechanism. Firs