ALBERT

Description: In order to tackle and solve the prediction problem of the lifetime of Li-ion batteries, it is essential to have awareness of the current state and health of the battery pack. To be able to accurately predict the future state of any system, one must possess knowledge of its current and future operations. Using derived models of the current and future system behavior, a model-based prognostics approach can be implemented as a solution to the prediction problem. As more and more autonomous electric vehicles progressively emerge in our daily life, a very critical challenge lies in accurate prediction of remaining useful life of the systems/subsystems. Batteries, power electronics conditioning systems, and motors are integrated to form the powertrain in electric vehicles; one of the most critical systems. In the case of electric aircrafts, computing remaining flying time is critical for safety, since an aircraft that runs out of power (battery charge) while in the air will eventually lose control leading to catastropheThis presentation covers a physics-based modeling approach implemented for case studies in capacitor and battery prognostics which are an integral part of an electrical powertrain system. The general approach of model-based prognostics will be examined as a potential solution for safety critical problems related to battery state of charge and state of health.

Description: Emerging power metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFETs) based on silicon carbide and gallium nitride technology are finding widespread use in many electronic applications such as motor control and DC/DC converters due to their higher voltage, higher temperature tolerance, and higher frequency switching capabilities. To utilize these power devices and to meet circuit/system compactness, modularity, and operational functionality, gate drivers that provide unique attributes, such as fast switching and high-current handling capability, are needed. In addition, power systems geared for use in space mission applications require on-board devices to withstand exposure to extreme temperatures and wide thermal swings. Very little data, however, exist on the performance of such devices and circuits under extreme temperatures. In this work, the performance of a high-speed gate driver with potential use in controlling power-level transistors was evaluated under extreme temperatures and thermal cycling. The investigations were carried out to assess performance for potential use of this device in space exploration missions under extreme temperature conditions.

Description: An analysis was set up to model the temperature of the advanced modular power system (AMPS) power distribution cards when installed within the electronics enclosure case. The analysis was used to determine the steady-state temperature distribution of the cards within the case. To verify the analysis, an experiment was set up and conducted to simulate the operation of the cards within the enclosure. Four tests were conducted. The tests varied the position of the cold plate and evaluated the use of a thermal compound to reduce the contact resistance between the joints within the thermal path between the cards and the cold plate. Three of the four cases examined showed very good agreement between the analysis and the experiment with a less than 1-percent variation in the predicated temperatures determined through the analysis and the experimentally derived temperatures. In the remaining case, the difference between the analysis and experiment was approximately 12 percent. Both the experiment and analysis showed that the modular power conditioning cards can be maintained within their desired maximum operating temperature range of 40 to 45 C through thermal conduction to a cold plate when operating with their estimated maximum heat output of 16 W per card.

Description: Lunar calibration is a commonly used method to track a climate satellite sensor's long-term radiometric stability. We present a modeling approach to examine the satellite sensor lunar observation uncertainties due to several important aspects related to the lunar image acquisition by the satellite sensor: lunar pixel shift, point spread function (PSF), lunar orientation, pitch, and oversampling rates. Our analyses can be summarized as follows: (1) The sensor observed lunar irradiance can vary due to small lunar pixel shift if the PSF is less than ideal; (2) During lunar calibration, an unstable oversampling rate due to spacecraft control will result in errors in observed lunar irradiance. A drift in oversampling rate would result in a bias in observed lunar irradiance and a random variation in oversampling rate would cause random error in lunar irradiance. Increasing the overall oversampling rates can reduce random error in observed lunar irradiance but would not change the biases in the observation; (3) Furthermore, the biases can vary when the Moon is observed at different orientations. Our results show impacts on observed lunar irradiance are on the order of 0.1 percent, which is a significant part of the overall uncertainty for a lunar irradiance measurement of a climate satellite sensor.

Description: Metallic magnetic calorimeter (MMC) technology is a leading contender for detectors for the Lynx X-ray Microcalorimeter, which is an imaging spectrometer consisting of an array of greater than 100,000 pixels. The fabrication of such large arrays presents a challenge when attempting to route the superconducting wiring from the pixels to the multiplexed readout. If the wiring is designed to be planar, then an aggressive, submicron scale wiring pitch has to be employed, which is technically challenging to design and fabricate on account of the requirements of low inductance, low cross-talk, high critical currents and high yield. An alternative way to achieve large scale, high density wiring is through the use of multiple buried metal layers, planarized by Chemical Mechanical Planarization. This approach is well-suited for connecting thousands of pixels on a large focal plane to readout chips, and also for fabricating sensor meander coils with narrow line widths, which helps in increasing the sensor inductance and thus alleviates stray inductance issues associated with the wiring in large size arrays. In this work we describe the fabrication of high sensor inductance MMC arrays implementing Lynx concepts and incorporating multiple layers of buried Nb wiring. The detector array is composed of three sub-arrays with pixels optimized to meet the different science driven performance requirements of Lynx. In two of the sub-arrays we adopt a thermal multiplexing scheme to read out pixels by coupling 25 absorbers to a single sensor through thermal links of varied thermal conductance. We demonstrate the successful fabrication of multi-absorber MMCs with fine pitch pixels in very large size arrays.

Description: This presentation illustratively communicates how to SPICE model silicon carbide (SiC) SiC junction field effect transistors (JFETs) for designing circuits for NASA GRC's upcoming prototype fabrication of SiC JFET IC Version 12.

Description: This presentation illustratively communicates integrated circuit (IC) mask design and layout rules for NASA GRC's upcoming prototype fabrication of SiC JFET IC Version 12.

Description: This presentation provides an overview of common mode conducted emissions (CMCE) measurements on power and signal cables. The presentation focuses on how such measurements directly apply to electromagnetic compatibility at the system level and provides a discussion of different techniques for performing them correctly and accurately.

Description: No abstract available

Description: In June 2014, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and the Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) jointly deployed a pair of coherent 20 GHz and 40 GHz beacon receivers to the POLIMI campus in Milan, Italy to characterize the atmospheric channel at Ka- and Q-band within the framework of the Alphasat experiment. The Milan receivers observe the continuous-wave beacons broadcast over Europe by the Aldo Paraboni Technology Demonstration Payload (TDP #5), and, in September 2017, both channels were upgraded to incorporate a novel digital radiometer (DR) measurement which NASA has recently employed in other propagation measurement campaigns. In November 2016, a co-located water vapor radiometer (WVR) was also installed at POLIMI, and the concurrent data from both the WVR and DR thusly enables validation of this new DR technique against the established WVR. Herein, we preliminarily investigate the calibration of the DR measurements using the WVR data and also assess a calibration method that may be implemented where WVR data is not readily available.

Description: No abstract available

Description: No abstract available

Description: NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program Overview and Technology Highlights The NEPP Program provides NASA's leadership for developing and maintaining guidance for the screening, qualification, test, and reliable use of electrical, electronic, and electromechanical parts by NASA, in collaboration with other government agencies and industry. The NASA Electronic Parts Assurance Group (NEPAG) is a core portion of NEPP. This presentation highlights key focus areas for 2019.

Description: The goal of this study was to perform an independent investigation of single event destructive and transient susceptibility of the Microsemi RTG4 device. The devices under test were the Microsemi RTG4 field programmable gate array (FPGA) Rev C. The devices under test will be referenced as the DUT or RTG4 Rev C throughout this document. The DUT was configured to have various test structures that are geared to measure specific potential susceptibilities of the device. DesignDevice susceptibility was determined by monitoring the DUT for Single Event Transient (SET) and Single Event Upset (SEU) induced faults by exposing the DUT to a heavy ion beam. Potential Single Event Latch-up (SEL) was checked throughout heavy-ion testing by monitoring device current.

Description: Microsemi (Microchip) RTG4 embedded triple modular redundant (TMR) phase-locked-loop (PLL) SEU data is presented. SEU data analysis includes: 1) Evaluation of heavy-ion beam angular effects (rectangular parallel pipe (RPP) or no RPP), 2) Importance of finding linear energy transfer (LET) onset (L0), 3) Comparison of prediction rate techniques.

Description: No abstract available

Description: With the development of wide band-gap (WBG) technology, the switching speed of power semiconductor devices is increased, which makes circuits more sensitive to parasitics. For three-level active neutral point clamped (3L-ANPC) converters, the over-voltage of non-conducting switches can be an issue. This paper analyzes the multiple commutation loops in 3L-ANPC converter and summarizes the impact factors of the over-voltage for the non-conducting switch. It is found that the nonlinearity of the output capacitance of the device can significantly influence the over-voltage. A simple control without introducing any additional hardware circuit is proposed to attenuate the impact of the nonlinearity. With the proposed control, the peak over-voltage of the non-conducting switch can be reduced significantly. Multi-pulse test is conducted for a 3L- ANPC converter built with silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. The testing results show that the peak over-voltage decreases from 892 V to 624 V with the proposed control. More detailed analysis and experimental results will be provided in the final paper.

Description: This presentation illustratively communicates how to SPICE model integrated silicon carbide (SiC) SiC resistors for designing circuits for NASA GRC's upcoming prototype fabrication of SiC JFET IC Version 12.

Description: Nuclear fission power offers an attractive alternative to solar electric or radioisotope power systems for certain applications on the Moon, Mars, and deep space science missions. The advantages of independence from solar irradiance, high energy density, and abundance of fuel allow fission power systems to enable novel, high power mission architectures. While NASA has had numerous fission power programs throughout its history, few have gone far beyond the design phase. The recent test campaign called the Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology project (KRUSTY) focused on a low power, kilowatt-scale design for simplicity and reduced cost, with the driving motivation to perform a full nuclear hardware prototype test. Following the successful completion of the KRUSTY nuclear hardware test in March of 2018, NASA has begun the formulation process for a Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) using the Kilopower reactor technology. In support of NASA's lunar surface initiatives, the Kilopower TDM will target a 1-3 kW fission electric power system that can survive the lunar night and operate for one year. The system will be heavily influenced by the KRUSTY reactor design, using a solid Uranium metal core with high temperature heat pipes and Stirling engine power conversion. During this formulation phase, continued engineering efforts are ongoing to improve heat transfer efficiency in the system, examine fission radiation damage effects, and begin to address the thermal and structural requirements of a Kilopower flight system.

Description: No abstract available

Description: NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program Overview Mission Statement: Provide NASA's leadership for developing and maintaining guidance for the screening, qualification, test, and reliable use of EEE parts by NASA, in collaboration with other government agencies and industry. The NASA Electronic Parts Assurance Group (NEPAG) is a core portion of NEPP.

Description: A multi-layer wireless sensor construct is provided. The construct includes a first dielectric layer adapted to be attached to a portion of a first surface of an electrically-conductive material. A layer of mu metal is provided on the first dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer is provided on the layer of mu metal. An electrical conductor is provided on the second dielectric layer wherein the second dielectric layer separates the electrical conductor from the layer of mu metal. The electrical conductor has first and second ends and is shaped to form an unconnected open-circuit that, in the presence of a time-varying magnetic field, resonates to generate a harmonic magnetic field response having a frequency, amplitude and bandwidth.

Description: The Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) at NASA Glenn Research Center follows the recommended practice for icing tunnel calibration outlined in SAE's ARP5905 document. The calibration team has followed the schedule of a full calibration every five years with a check calibration done every six months following. The liquid water content of the IRT has maintained stability within in the specifications presented to customers that the variation is within +/- 10% of the calibrated, target measurement. With recent measurements and instrumentation errors, a more thorough assessment of error source was desired. By constructing statistical process control charts, the ability to determine how the instrument varies in the short term, mid term, and long term was gained. The control charts offer a view of instrument error, facility error, or installation changes. It was discovered that there was a shift from target to mean baseline thus leading to the study of the overall capability indices of the liquid water content measuring instrument to perform within specifications defined in the IRT. This presentation describes data processing procedures for the Multi-Element Sensor in the IRT, including collision efficiency corrections, canonical correlation analysis, Chauvenet's Criterion for rejection of data, distribution check of data, and mean, median and mode for construction of control charts. Further data is presented to describe the repeatability of the IRT with the Multi-Element Sensor and the ability to maintain a stable process for the defined calibration schedule.

Description: ISO-26262, the road vehicle functional safety standard, underwent a major overhaul that was released in December 2018. Radiation effects, and single-event effect (SEE) hazards in particular, play an important role in autonomous vehicle safety. This connection will only increase as the level of driving automation goes from "hands off," to "eyes off," to "mind off." This translates to increased coupling with space climate and weather in addition to other traditional terrestrial radiation sources like thorium and uranium contamination in process and packaging materials. We will focus on autonomous vehicle radiation effects and present both benefits and challenges to the space weather and radiation engineering communities.

Description: An integrated circuit (IC) chip with a self-contained fluid sensor and method of making the chip. The sensor is in a conduit formed between a semiconductor substrate and a non-conductive cap with fluid entry and exit points through the cap. The conduit may be entirely in the cap, in the substrate or in both. The conduit includes encased temperature sensors at both ends and a central encased heater. The temperature sensors may each include multiple encased diodes and the heater may include multiple encased resistors.

Description: A high-voltage power transmission system is used as an extremely large antenna to extract spatiotemporal space, physical, and geological information from geomagnetically induced currents (GIC). A differential magnetometer method is used to measure GIC and involves acquiring line measurements from a first fluxgate magnetometer under a high-voltage transmission line, acquiring natural field measurements from a reference magnetometer nearby but not under the transmission line, subtracting the natural field measurements from the line measurements, and determining the GIC-related Biot-Savart field from the difference. NASA warning and alarm systems can be triggered based on determinations of GIC amplitude levels that exceed a set threshold value.

Description: Increasing the power density and efficiency of electric machines (motors and generators) is integral to bringing Electrified Aircraft (EA) to commercial realization. To that end an effort to create a High Efficiency Megawatt Motor (HEMM) with a goal of exceeding 98% efficiency and 1.46 MW of power has been undertaken at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Of the motor components the resistive losses in the stator windings are by far the largest contributor (34%) to total motor loss. The challenge is the linear relationship between resistivity and temperature, making machine operation sensitive to temperature increases. In order to accurately predict the thermal behavior of the stator the thermal conductivity of the Litz wire-potting-electrical insulation system must be known. Unfortunately, this multi material system has a wide range of thermal conductivities (0.1 W/m-K 400 W/m-K) and a high anisotropy (axial vs transverse) making the prediction of the transverse thermal conductivity an in turn the hot spot temperatures in the windings is difficult. In order to do this a device that simulates the thermal environment found in the HEMM stator was designed. This device is not unlike the motorettes (little motors) that are described in IEEE standards for testing electrical insulation lifetimes or other electric motor testing. However, because the HEMM motor design includes significant rotor electrical and thermal considerations the term motorette was not deemed appropriate. Instead statorette (or little stator) was adopted as the term for this test device. This paper discussed the design, thermal heat conjugate analysis (thermal model), manufacturing and testing of HEMM's statorette. Analysis of the results is done by thermal resistance network model and micro thermal model and is compared to analytical predictions of thermal conductivity of the insulated and potted Litz wire system.

Description: Of all the instruments commonly flown on exploration spacecraft, few are as flexible as the camera in the breadth of science problems they ad-dress. Even fewer instruments are so frequently called upon to simultaneously support scientific analysis, mission-critical navigation, and day-to-day operations. Thus, the authors find study of space imagery to be a naturally interdisciplinary endeavor where the pursuit of science and exploration are intertwined.

Description: The interaction of photon and the electron goes back to the early part of 19th century emanating from the photo-electric effect depicted by none other than Albert Einstein (Ref 1) described in 1905, and the redistribution of kinetic energy resulting from the interaction of x-ray and solids reported during early part of the century (Ref.2). The spectrum resolutions obtained at that time was not sufficient to observe distinct peaks in spectra for materials. Thus, these phenomena hardly attracted any attention for many years following these discoveries. The modern X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) has been possible by the extensive and significant contribution from Kai Siegbahn and others (Ref.3, 4) of Uppsala University. Siegbahn developed and employed a high-resolution electron spectrometer that revealed electron peaks in a spectrum emerging from the interaction of x-rays and solids. Eventually, Kai Siegbahn received Nobel Prize in 1981 for his contributions to XPS. Around 1958, shifts in elemental peaks were realized in compounds when the same elements are bound to other but different elements. This discovery resulted in the chemical state identification in various chemicals as well as the oxidation states of atoms in compounds. Because of these useful physical effects, the Uppsala group named XPS with a synonymous name of ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis) used widely today and will be used here alternatively. Therefore, XPS or ESCA not only identifies the element, but also the compound these elements form, from their chemical shifts. Compared to other micro-analytical techniques such as Energy Dispersive (EDS) or Wavelength Dispersive (WDS) techniques, XPS analyzes only few atomic layers present on the surface. This was discovered early in 1966 (Ref. 5). While this has awarded a merit to the analytical technique to analyze very thin layers such as films and coatings, it often analyzes the adsorbed superficial gases and contaminations on a sample introduced to its analytical chamber. This necessitates the surface is cleaned and the underlying material, material of interest, is exposed in a clean environment such that the material of interest is analyzed. The cleaning is accomplished by a scanning ion gun within the analytical chamber of the instrument. Ion gun uses an argon gas and is commonly attached in most modern machines. Reliable and efficient vacuum systems employed in modern machines does not allow adsorbed layers to rebuild after the surface is cleaned. Development of efficient and reliable vacuum pumps over these developmental years is yet another important step in the commercialization of XPS machines. Vacuum levels of better than 10-7 torr are essential to increase the mean free path of electrons released from the sample surface. Thus, modern machines are equipped with high capacity ion, turbo or cryogenic pumps in their analytical chambers. Today, XPS has advanced from an applied physics laboratory to industry for use in quality control as well as analysis of contaminants and has taken a dominant role in microanalysis. Its uniqueness arises from the fact that it is considered non-destructive compared to other common micro-analytical techniques using the electron and ion excitation sources. Polymers and plastics could be analyzed since the binding energies of saturated and unsaturated bonds in atoms could be separated. Extremely thin layers could be analyzed including materials with layered structures. The technique, though did not advance for many years, has now opened a new window for research as well as applications in industry due to its ability to separate and measure the chemical shifts in bound elements. Principles

Description: Solar neutrons are the tell-tale of highly energetic processes (e.g. solar flares) at the Sun in which particle acceleration is taking place over a broad range in energy. Unlike charged radiation, neutrons escape unscathed from the ambient magnetic fields, providing a view of particle acceleration unhindered by the effects of transport. High-energy neutrons are challenging to measure with the traditional double scatter technique based on time-of-flight (ToF). This technique is limited by the finite flight path and active scintillator sizes required by small satellite platforms. The new SOlar Neutron TRACking (SONTRAC) concept, based on scintillating-fiber bundles, will provide high resolution imaging of fast neutrons at energies where the bulk of solar and magnetospheric neutrons resides. Recent development of the new SONTRAC instrument concept's advanced electronics and processing algorithms are presented.

Description: This presentation highlights NASA AFRCs wireless systems development plans as well as technological needs and airworthiness challenges for flight test/research applications. The presentation discusses desired wireless sensing and wireless data communication methodologies for specific aircraft areas such as wings, tail, engines, and landing gears. The presentation also provides information for potential industry partners seeking to collaborate in the development of sensors through various means as well as to verify and validate wireless sensors and systems through flight at AFRC.

Description: Total ionizing dose (TID) and single-event effect (SEE) room-temperature radiation test results are presented for developmental prototype 4H-SiC junction field effect transistor (JFET) semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) that have demonstrated prolonged operation in extremely high-temperature (500 C) environments. The devices tested demonstrated over 7 Mrad(Si) TID tolerance and no destructive SEE susceptibility.

Description: Total ionizing dose, displacement damage dose, and single-event effect testing were performed to characterize and determine the suitability of candidate electronics for NASA space utilization. Devices tested include optoelectronics, digital, analog, bipolar devices, and FPGAs.

Description: Total ionizing dose, displacement damage dose, and single-event effect testing were performed to characterize and determine the suitability of candidate electronics for NASA space utilization. Devices tested include optoelectronics, digital, analog, bipolar devices, and FPGAs.

Description: This presentation gives an update of the low SWaP sensor field of regard analysis results.

Description: This splinter session presentation will provide users with an overview of the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) capabilities and services. It will depict the current configuration of SAMS on the International Space Station (ISS) and show current and future planned allocation of SAMS resources on the ISS. This presentation has a items seeking feedback or resolution for the first wireless deployment of SAMS sensors on the space station.

Description: Single-Event Effects (SEE) testing was conducted on the nVidia Jetson TX2 System on Chip (SOC). Testing was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital's (MGH) Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center on June 2nd, 2019.

Description: As part of the GOES-R series follow on architecture study following the NOAA Satellite Observing System Architecture (NSOSA) study, a study team evaluated the feasibility of accommodating the GOES in-situ instruments (Magnetometer and Particle Detectors) on a dedicated spacecraft with no impact to the overall baseline mission cost assuming two large observatories. The accommodations cost on a primary operational type observatory are non-negligible requiring: a large non-magnetic boom to reduce the impact of the spacecraft interference on the magnetometer; and strict contamination control and magnetic cleanliness to prevent magnetic contamination near the magnetometers. These, along with the additional interface complexities greatly increase the cost of larger spacecraft by extending integration time with a large marching army. By contrast, a dedicated mission provides flexibility in location and refresh rate not afforded when these sensors are launched as secondary payloads. This study performed an informal industry survey of small form-factor instruments currently flying or in process of being developed. The study identified three potential particle detector suites and multiple magnetometers that will satisfy the requirements while having low enough volume and mass to allow accommodation on a rideshare class spacecraft. Using the largest of the identified particle detector suites, the Goddard Space Flight Center Mission Design Lab developed a design for a rideshare spacecraft that will accommodate the particle detector suite and magnetometer. The cost of the spacecraft, based on multiple cost models, is comparable to the cost of accommodating the magnetometer and particle detector suite on two (East and West) larger main observatories.

Description: Microprocessor, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and DDRx memory devices have emerged as promising next-generation technologies that enables both high performance processing and acceleration of complex algorithms for the latest challenges in human spaceflight, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI). The feature sets of these devices offer exponential increases to throughput, calculation capability and system autonomy when compared to legacy flight systems. NASA's Electronic Part and Packaging (NEPP) Program has conducted an investigation into the radiation susceptibility of leading edge devices and process technologies by establishing standardized test approaches. Unlike most discrete devices, these require state of the art test systems to induce specific hardware activity similar to application software, thus allowing the characterization of failure modes within the system. To best characterize the tested part, NEPP eliminates variables that may impact device performance under radiation. Simplification of remaining system-level variables leads to an improved understanding of complex computational devices and their intended applications. The failure modes and error signatures that are recorded during testing are used to determine radiation sensitivity of the semiconductor process and the microcode architecture of the design. This presentation will discuss the test methodology that NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) is working to establish for its microprocessor, GPU and DDRx memory test programs to provide guidance on these devices and their underlying technology, in regards to their potential usage in future space flight systems.

Description: Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) is essential to the success of any vehicle design that incorporates a complex assortment of electronic, electrical, and electromechanical systems and sub-systems that is expected to meet operational and performance requirements while exposed to a changing set of electromagnetic environments composed of both man-made and naturally occurring threats. The combined aspects of these environments are known as Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3). The attainment of EMC is accomplished through the application of sound engineering principles and practices that enable a complex vehicle or vehicles to operate successfully when exposed to the effects of its expected and/or specified electromagnetic environments.

Description: High precision attitude measurement systems obviate the need for the beacon from the receiver making it possible for the spacecraft to beam a laser communications signal to a ground station without the ground station advertising its location. The research presented targets new detection and estimation methods to improve the accuracy in locating stars on a focal plane detector, and an understanding of the effects of changes in the optics design parameters and aberration, including defocus, on the navigation solution itself. This understanding can lead to an optimization of the attitude solution with respect to those optics realm parameter changes. The methodology discussed includes the development of a model of a current star tracker system. Using this model, multiple algorithms are implemented, including a multi-hypothesis method (MHT), to detect and estimate the position of the stars on the focal plane detector. It will be shown that using the MHT for detection and estimation, a greater accuracy can be found for each star estimation from more traditional detection and estimation algorithms. The approach then uses the model to develop statistics of the star tracker and the attitude estimation outputs to understand the accuracy, or variance, of the system's attitude solution. This solution is repeated for a range of defocus aberration, and a lower limit to the variance of the attitude solution is shown. A Cramer Rao lower bound solution is derived for the star tracker system and the results are compared to the Monte Carlo analysis from the model and shown to correlate very well. The approach uses a star image not as a Gaussian spot on the focal plane as done in previous work, and use of an image that includes the effects of aberrations of the optic system, and the effects of under-sampling and noise from the focal plane detector as well. Analysis includes exploring a star tracker's accuracy improvement through the combination of focus error and under-sampling effects alone, possibly contradicting conventional wisdom and approaches.

Description: Landsat 9 is currently under development as a joint effort between NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Landsat 9 is essentially a rebuild of Landsat 8 and has the same two sensors, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Imaging Sensor (TIRS). The OLI-2 on Landsat 9, is being built by Ball Aerospace and has completed its pre-launch characterization and calibration and is scheduled to be delivered in the summer of 2019. The TIRS-2, being built by Goddard Space Flight Center, is currently undergoing testing through Spring 2019 and also scheduled for summer 2019 delivery. Several improvements to the characterization of both instruments have been incorporated into the testing plan, including improved spectral and radiometric characterization. The instruments will then be integrated onto the spacecraft being built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS). The mission is targeted to launch as early as December 2020 on an Atlas-5.

Description: The Lynx x-ray microcalorimeter (LXM) is an imaging spectrometer for the Lynx satellite mission, an x-ray telescope being considered by NASA to be a new flagship mission. Lynx will enable unique astrophysical observations into the x-ray universe due to its high angular resolution and large field of view. The LXM consists of an array of over 100,000 pixels and poses a significant technological challenge to achieve the high degree of multiplexing required to read out these sensors. We discuss the details of microwave superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) multiplexing and describe why it is ideally suited to the needs of the LXM. This case is made by summarizing the current and predicted performance of microwave SQUID multiplexing and describing the steps needed to optimize designs for all the LXM arrays. Finally, we describe our plan to advance the technology readiness level (TRL) of microwave SQUID multiplexing of the LXM microcalorimeters to TRL-5 by 2024.

Description: Under normal circumstances, a spectrophotometer is used to measure transmission of material samples. However, a sample may be too large to fit into the spectrophotometer chamber, or a field inspection may be required. This Technical Publication describes the procedure for using measurements made with a portable spectroreflectometer to calculate transmission. A similar procedure is used to calculate infrared transmission using measurements from a portable infrared reflectometer.

Description: Studies of the atmospheres of our solar system's planets including our own require a comprehensive set of observations, relying on instruments on spacecraft, aircraft, balloons, and on the surface. These instrument systems perform one or both of the following: 1) provide information leading to a basic understanding of the relationship between atmospheric systems and processes, and 2) serve as calibration references for satellite instrument validation. Laboratory personnel define requirements, conceive concepts, and develop instrument systems for spaceflight missions, and for balloon, aircraft, and ground-based observations. Balloon and airborne platforms facilitate regional measurements of precipitation, cloud systems, and ozone from high-altitude vantage points, but still within the atmosphere. Such platforms serve as stepping-stones in the development of space instruments. Satellites provide nearly global coverage of the Earth with spatial resolutions and repetition rates that vary from system to system. The products of atmospheric remote sensing are invaluable for research associated with water vapor, ozone, trace gases, aerosol particles, clouds, precipitation, and the radiative and dynamic processes that affect the climate of the Earth. These parameters also provide the basic information needed to develop models of global atmospheric processes and weather and climate prediction. Laboratory scientists also participate in the design of data processing algorithms, calibration techniques, and the data processing systems.

Description: A series of electromagnetic simulations was conducted for the Conformal Lightweight Antenna System for Aeronautical Communications Technologies (CLAS-ACT) Program. The program designed, built, and flight tested a 14.25 GHz conformal patch array antenna for satellite communications on a T-34C airplane. Various studies were performed to evaluate the effects of antenna element spacing, array shape, signal taper, phased array pointing angle, null steering coefficients, antenna platform, and location on the airplane. This report documents the methods and some of the results of tests done over a 2 year period.

Description: A method of mitigating noise in source image data representing pixels of a 3-D image. The "3-D image" may be any type of 3-D image, regardless of whether the third dimension is spatial, temporal, or some other parameter. The 3-D image is divided into three-dimensional chunks of pixels. These chunks are apodized and a three-dimensional Fourier transform is performed on each chunk, thereby producing a three-dimensional spectrum of each chunk. The transformed chunks are processed to estimate a noise floor based on spectral values of the pixels within each chunk. A noise threshold is then determined, and the spectrum of each chunk is filtered with a denoising filter based on the noise threshold. The chunks are then inverse transformed, and recombined into a denoised 3-D image.

Description: Single-event effects and total ionizing dose testing is described for a 32-layer NAND flash memory, in both SLC and MLC configurations, with special considerations for unique three-dimensional test results.

Description: Technology is changing at a fast pace. Transistor geometries are getting smaller, voltage thresholds are getting lower, design complexity is exponentially increasing, and user options are expanding. Consequently, reliable insertion of error detection and correction (EDAC) circuitry has become relatively challenging. As a response, a variety of mitigation techniques are being evaluated. They range from weak EDAC circuits that save area and power to strong mitigation strategies that are a great expense to systems. This presentation will focus on radiation induced susceptibilities for a variety of FPGA types and ASIC devices. In addition, the user will be provided information on applicable mitigation strategies per device.

Description: Electrical power and control systems designed for use in planetary exploration missions and deep space probes require electronics that are capable of efficient and reliable operation under extreme temperature conditions. In addition, space-based infrared satellites, all-electric ships, jet engines, electromagnetic launchers, magnetic levitation transport systems, and power facilities are also typical examples where system electronics are expected to be exposed to harsh temperatures and to operate under severe thermal swings. Most commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices are not designed to function under such extreme conditions and very little data exist on their performance outside their specified range of operation. In this work, the performance of an ultrafast gate driver for controlling power-level transistors was evaluated under extreme temperatures and thermal cycling. The investigations were carried out to assess performance for potential use of this device in space exploration missions under extreme temperature conditions.

Description: This presentation goes over the harmful algal bloom monitoring with different in house hyperspectral imagers.

Description: The main goal of this project is to fulfill the need of a controller upgrade for the Cavity Environmental Control System (CECS) on the NASA SOFIA aircraft. The preceding controller had multiple disadvantages including operating in an unpressurized region, incomplete functionality implementation, limited fault and status monitoring capability, and reduced maintainability and reliability. The new controller will go through the NASA design process to fulfill all the requirements of CECS operation including complete functionality of all devices currently installed on the aircraft, added devices to improve fault and health monitoring, and overall improvement in maintainability and reliability.

Description: The Navigation Campaign of the OSIRIS-REx mission consisted of three phases: Approach, Preliminary Survey and Orbital-A. These phases were designed to optimize the initial characterization of Bennu's mass, shape and spin-state to support a safe orbit insertion and a quick transition to landmark-based optical navigation tracking. The standard orbit determination filtering techniques used to navigate the spacecraft were unable to fit data from these three phases simultaneously due to numerical issues associated with the nonlinear dynamics and the long arc length. Consequently, a multi-arc filtering algorithm was implemented in order to combine the information from each of these arcs. Multi-arc solutions for Bennu's spin state and gravity field are presented here.

Description: The ISS (International Space Station) currently lacks the capability to image and chemically analyze nano-to-micron scale particles from numerous engineering systems. To identify these particles, we must wait for a re-entry vehicle to return them from low earth orbit for ground-based SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) / EDS (Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy) analysis. This may take months, potentially delaying the affected system. Having an EDS-equipped SEM (Mochii S) aboard the ISS will accelerate response time thereby enhancing crew and vehicle safety by rapid and accurate identification of microscopic threats, especially in time-critical situations.The Mochii S payload will be stationed in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) powered by 120 VAC (Volts Alternating Current) inverter and connected to station Ethernet and WiFi (Fig. 1). To date the Mochii S payload has undergone testing for command and data handling, power quality, flight vibration, and radiation testing at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Mochii's high-RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) rotating vacuum pumps and high voltage systems have been reviewed to meet safety standards by JSC (Johnson Space Center) Engineering. Topology of the system in the JEM module has been baselined by ISS Safety and JAXA (Japan Space Exploration Agency). Digital controls to and from ISS over Joint Station LAN (Local Area Network) uplink have been simulated and the latencies and data rates have been found to be sufficient for successful operation of the payload from ground.Transporting sensitive electron optical instruments aboard a rocket that sustains 7G acceleration for 8 minutes and then operating it the unique microgravity (micro-g) environment is no trivial matter. To meet strict safety requirements and increase robustness for mission success, over 500 unique verifications must be completed before the payload is certified for spaceflight. Two of which will be discussed in detail are: vibroacoustic testing and magnetic susceptibility shielding and validation.

Description: The analytical model for the device drain-source turn-on overvoltage in three-level active neutral point clamped (3L-ANPC) converters is established in this paper. Considering the two commutation loops in the converter, the relationship between the overvoltage and the loop inductances is evaluated. The line switching frequency device usually exhibits higher overvoltage, while the high switching frequency device is not strongly influenced by the multiple loops. A 500 kVA 3L-ANPC converter using SiC MOSFETs is tested, and the model is verified with the experimental results.

Description: We have performed the initial characterization of single crystal 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC) pressure sensors to determine the operational reliability over time at 800 C. Important parameters such as the zero pressure offset, bridge resistance, and pressure sensitivity as they are affected by temperature were extracted. These parameters showed relative stability within the prescribed operational envelop of the sensor at 800 C. Of significance is the increase in pressure sensitivity with increasing temperature beyond 400 C, to the extent that the sensitivity at 800 C was higher than the room temperature value. The implication of this result is that the sensor can be inserted further into the high temperature environment, thereby capturing the wider bandwidth of the pressure transients than currently possible.

Description: Outline: Scientific motivation for MaGIXS (Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer) - Demonstrate sensitivity of MaGIXS to determine high temperature plasma; Instrument design - Challenges involved; Instrument status - alignment and calibration.

Description: Mission success criteria at the device level and required device operation/availability can determine the risk posed by the radiation effects for a given device in a given environment, but rarely are the same from one mission to another. A large portion of New Space / SmallSat missions to date have benefitted from relatively short mission durations and chosen orbits that have less severe particle populations than their larger counterparts. As mission objectives grow and become reliant on their chosen devices operating for longer lives and in more harsh environments, requirements need to reflect the changing scope but not hinder design adoptions from previously successful missions that provide new capabilities. This presentation describes notable differences in radiation environments, the requirement changes that come with choice of orbit, and prioritizations for mission success criteria to be determined by the designers of the system and subsystems. Test methodologies based on radiation effect categories are explained briefly; when they are needed. Similarity data (and its limitations) are discussed so that caveats and short-comings are understood. Reliability and assurance quantification may not always be possible, but determining where risks are taken and how to classify them is the essential topic for the intended practice: to establish radiation requirements with the goal of getting to mission success.

Description: NASA Glenn Research Center has been pursuing the development of dynamic power conversion for several decades. Candidate NASA missions involve mutli-year travel to far away destinations, or to extreme environments where sunlight does not exist. Human-base mission studies also show that power needs would be beyond the capabilities of solar energy conversion, and instead would require nuclear reactor energy sources, for which the thermal energy must be converted to electricity. Dynamic power conversion technology has developed sufficiently to make a sound engineering argument that it is suitable for these NASA missions. Dynamic conversion power sources have yet to be flown in space, and thus suffer a disadvantage owing to their lack of heritage data on flight missions. One of the largest obstacles for adoption is the uncertainty in reliability of a device with moving parts. However, significant progress has been made toward demonstrating the technology capable in all relevant environments, with the necessary long life. Another hurdle for adoption is the lack of mission, which would drive specific requirements, and provide a solid timeline for technology development endpoint. Until a mission is identified, an alternative approach is necessary to advance a dynamic power conversion system towards flight.

Description: No abstract available

Description: There are several mechanisms which have been proposed for the existence of colossal dielectric constant in the class of perovskite calcium copper titanate (CaCu3Ti4O12 or CCTO) materials. Researches indicate that existence of twinning parallel to (100) (001) and (010) planes causes planar defects and causes changes in local electronic structure. This change can cause insulating barriers locally which contribute to the large dielectric values irrespective of processing. The combination of insulating barriers, defects and displacements caused by twinning have been attributed to the generation of large dielectric constant in CCTO. To examine some of these arguments some researchers replaced Ca with other elements and evaluated this concept. In this study we present the synthesis and characterization of Ga2/3Cu3Ti4O12-xNx (GCTON) material. This provides both distortion due to atomic size difference and defects due to insertion of nitrogen. The morphology of the compound was determined to show that processing has tremendous effect on the dielectric values. The resistivity of GCTON was several order higher than CCTO and dielectric constant was higher than 10,000.

Description: No abstract available

Description: The overall goal of this research project is to improve the response and sensitivity of the AC Retarding Potential Analyzer (RPA). The AC RPA can accurately measure the flux, energy, and energy distribution of charged particles in a space environment. The enhancement of the sensor derives from changes that increase sensitivity of flux measurements through reduction of the baseline noise. The enhanced AC RPA sensor allows diagnosis of required charge particle beams necessary for tests of materials, instruments and subsystems, for future exploration missions.

Description: Overview of agency-level electronic parts management, the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program, and NEPP Program Fiscal Year 2019 task investment areas.

Description: No abstract available

Description: No abstract available

Description: In the 47 years since single-event effects were first observed in spacecraft electronics, radiation experts have developed an effective methodology supported by a nationwide infrastructure. A highly skilled workforce of radiation engineers has developed test facilities and methods, modeling and simulation techniques, and mitigation and design strategies to ensure space missions meet their performance and reliability requirements even in the harsh radiation environments of space. Now, increasing performance demands of space missions, the continued disruptive evolution of microcircuit technologies and growth and changes of the space industry have combined with an aging infrastructure are placing increasing strain on the radiation effects community, and the community is responding.

Description: This paper introduces the new Portable Laser Guided Robotic antenna range (PLGR) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Glenn Research Center. Previous work used industrial robots in fixed facilities to characterize antennas and required fixtures that do not lend themselves to portable applications.NASA's PLGR system is designed for in-situ antenna measurements at a remote site. The system consists of a robot arm mounted on a vertical lift and a laser tracker, each on a portable base. The lift and laser tracker enable scanning a surface larger than the robot's reach. To accomplish this the robot first collects all points within its reach, then the system is moved and the laser tracker is used to relocate the robot before additional points are captured.The PLGR architecture will be discussed including how safety systems and path planning are combined to effectively characterize antennas. Software was written in high level languages for flexible integration of vector network analyzers and antenna controllers. Lastly, data will be shown to demonstrate the system functionality and accuracy.

Description: Single-Event Effects (SEE) testing was conducted on the AMD e9173 Graphics Processor Unit (GPU). Testing was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital's (MGH) Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center.

Description: Single-Event Effects (SEE) testing was conducted on the AMD Ryzen 3 2200G microprocessor with integrated graphics. Testing was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital's (MGH) Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center on June 2nd, 2019.

Description: Single-Event Effects (SEE) testing was conducted on the AMD Ryzen 3 1200 microprocessor. Testing was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital's (MGH) Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center on June 2nd, 2019.

Description: Gallium nitride (GaN), a wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor, has emerged as a very promising material for electronic components due to the tremendous advantages it offers compared to silicon (Si), such as power capability, extreme temperature tolerance, and high frequency operation. This presentation summarizes a body of knowledge (BOK) document in reference to the development and current status of GaN technology obtained via literature and industry surveys. It provides a listing of the major manufacturers and their capabilities, as well as government, industry, and academic parties interested in the technology. The presentation also discusses GaN's applications in the area of power electronics, in particular those geared for space missions. Finally, issues relevant to the reliability of GaN-based electronic parts are addressed and limitations affecting the full utilization of this technology are identified.

Description: This presentation describes an Intern experience working with analog to digital converters.

Description: Landsat 9 is currently under development as a joint effort between NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Landsat 9 is essentially a rebuild of Landsat 8 and has the same two sensors, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Imaging Sensor (TIRS). The OLI-2 on Landsat 9, is being built by Ball Aerospace and has completed its pre-launch characterization and calibration and is scheduled to be delivered in the summer of 2019. The TIRS-2, being built by Goddard Space Flight Center, is currently undergoing testing through Spring 2019 and also scheduled for summer 2019 delivery. Several improvements to the characterization of both instruments have been incorporated into the testing plan, including improved spectral and radiometric characterization. The instruments will then be integrated onto the spacecraft being built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS). The mission is targeted to launch as early as December 2020 on an Atlas-5.

Description: Reducing nonrecurring cost and shortening the build schedule for space qualified avionics has been a recurring theme in Space Industry. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has leverage its heritage flight qualified design and developed a portfolio of modular avionics comprised of 22 different board designs in a form factor named MUSTANG (Modular Unified Space Technology Avionics for Next Generation) that can be utilized in a variety flight applications. Since the design has no backplane, the modules can be mixed and match to meet the needed requirements. The MUSTANG form factor is sized to fill the void between 3U and 6U form factor and with flexibility to adapting the design without relaying out the boards.

Description: No abstract available

Description: NASA and industry are developing inflatable, crewed space structures for large-scale habitats for in-space and surface missions. Space certified inflatables are composed of high strength fabrics that carry the structural loads from internal pressure and replace traditional metallic primary structure. Inflatables can be packed for launch, fit inside a small launch shroud, and expand in orbit to create a large habitable volume for the crew. For safe operation of inflatable habitats, structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques are required to monitor and evaluate the structural loads in both ground and flight tests. Because of the nature of fabric structures, SHM techniques need to be soft, flexible, and be able to interface with softgoods. Litteken's presentation will introduce inflatable structures, their design, and their planned use for future NASA missions. He will discuss SHM needs for inflatables and their specific requirements for implementation with flight hardware.

Description: Low-cost, commercial-off-the-shelf- (COTS-) based science cameras are intended for lab use only and are not suitable for flight deployment as they are difficult to ruggedize and repackage into instruments. Also, COTS implementation may not be suitable since mission science objectives are tied to specific measurement requirements, and often require performance beyond that required by the commercial market. Custom camera development for each application is cost prohibitive for the International Space Station (ISS) or midrange science payloads due to nonrecurring expenses (~$2,000 K) for ground-up camera electronics design. While each new science mission has a different suite of requirements for camera performance (detector noise, speed of image acquisition, charge-coupled device (CCD) size, operation temperature, packaging, etc.), the analog-to-digital conversion, power supply, and communications can be standardized to accommodate many different applications. The low noise camera for suborbital applications is a rugged standard camera platform that can accommodate a range of detector types and science requirements for use in inexpensive to mid range payloads supporting Earth science, solar physics, robotic vision, or astronomy experiments. Cameras developed on this platform have demonstrated the performance found in custom flight cameras at a price per camera more than an order of magnitude lower.

Description: Batteries keep devices working by utilizing high energy density, however, they can run down and take tens of minutes to hours to recharge. For rapid power delivery and recharging, high-power density devices, i.e., supercapacitors, are used. The electrochemical processes which occur in batteries and supercapacitors give rise to different charge-storage properties. In lithium ion (Li+) batteries, the insertion of Li+, which enables redox reactions in bulk electrode materials, is diffusion controlled and can be slow. Supercapacitor devices, also known as electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) store charge by adsorption of electrolyte ions onto the surface of electrode materials. No redox reactions are necessary, so the response to changes in potential without diffusion limitations is rapid and leads to high power. However, the charge in EDLCs is confined to the surface, so the energy density is lower than that of batteries.

Description: The Ultracapacitor Research and Development project is a collaborative effort between the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) ES43 Parts, Packaging, and Fabrication Branch and the EM41 Nonmetallic Materials Branch. NASA's Ultracapacitor Research is an effort to develop solid-state energy storage devices through processing of ceramic materials into printable dielectric inks, which can be formed and treated to produce solid state ultracapacitor cells capable of exceeding lithium-ion battery energy density at a fraction of the weight. Research and development efforts into solid state ultracapacitors have highlighted a series of technical challenges such as understanding as-received nature of ceramic powders, treatment and optimization of ceramic powders, dielectric and conductor ink formulation, and firing of printed (green) ultracapacitor cells. Two facilities have been continually developed since project inception: the Additive Electronics Lab in Bldg. 4487 and the Nanoelectric Materials Lab in Bldg. 4602. The Nanoelectric Materials Lab has become a unique facility at MSFC, capable of custom processing a wide range of media for additive electronics. As research has progressed, it was discovered that additional in-house processing was necessary to achieve smaller, more uniform particle diameters. A vibratory mill was obtained that can agitate powder and media in three directions, which has shown to be much more effective than ball milling. However, in order to understand the effects of milling, a particle size analysis system has been installed to characterize as-received and milled materials Continued research into the ultracapacitor technology included advanced milling and optimization of ceramic nanoparticles, fluidized bed treatment of atomic-layer deposition- (ALD-) coated ceramic particles, custom development of dielectric and conductor inks, as well as custom ink precursors such as polyvinylidene diflouride- (PVDF-) loaded vehicles. Experiments with graphene-based inks were also conducted.

Description: The ISS-RAD instrument has been fabricated by Southwest Research Institute and delivered to NASA for flight to the ISS in late 2015 or early 2016. ISS-RAD is essentially two instruments that share a common interface to ISS. The two instruments are the Charged Particle Detector (CPD), which is very similar to the MSL-RAD detector on Mars, and the Fast Neutron Detector (FND), which is a boron-loaded plastic scintillator with readout optimized for the 0.5 to 10 MeV energy range. As the FND is completely new, it has been necessary to develop methodology to allow it to be used to measure the neutron dose and dose equivalent. This talk will focus on the methods developed and their implementation using calibration data obtained in quasi-monoenergetic (QMN) neutron fields at the PTB facility in Braunschweig, Germany. The QMN data allow us to determine an approximate response function, from which we estimate dose and dose equivalent contributions per detected neutron as a function of the pulse height. We refer to these as the "pSv per count" curves for dose equivalent and the "pGy per count" curves for dose. The FND is required to provide a dose equivalent measurement with an accuracy of 10% of the known value in a calibrated AmBe field. Four variants of the analysis method were developed, corresponding to two different approximations of the pSv per count curve, and two different implementations, one for real-time analysis onboard ISS and one for ground analysis. We will show that the preferred method, when applied in either real-time or ground analysis, yields good accuracy for the AmBe field. We find that the real-time algorithm is more susceptible to chance-coincidence background than is the algorithm used in ground analysis, so that the best estimates will come from the latter.

Description: The NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) uses two main meteor camera networks to characterize the meteoroid environment: an all sky system and a wide field system to study cm and mm size meteors respectively. The NASA All Sky Fireball Network consists of fifteen meteor video cameras in the United States, with plans to expand to eighteen cameras by the end of 2015. The camera design and All-Sky Guided and Real-time Detection (ASGARD) meteor detection software [1, 2] were adopted from the University of Western Ontario's Southern Ontario Meteor Network (SOMN). After seven years of operation, the network has detected over 12,000 multi-station meteors, including meteors from at least 53 different meteor showers. The network is used for speed distribution determination, characterization of meteor showers and sporadic sources, and for informing the public on bright meteor events. The NASA Wide Field Meteor Network was established in December of 2012 with two cameras and expanded to eight cameras in December of 2014. The two camera configuration saw 5470 meteors over two years of operation with two cameras, and has detected 3423 meteors in the first five months of operation (Dec 12, 2014 - May 12, 2015) with eight cameras. We expect to see over 10,000 meteors per year with the expanded system. The cameras have a 20 degree field of view and an approximate limiting meteor magnitude of +5. The network's primary goal is determining the nightly shower and sporadic meteor fluxes. Both camera networks function almost fully autonomously with little human interaction required for upkeep and analysis. The cameras send their data to a central server for storage and automatic analysis. Every morning the servers automatically generates an e-mail and web page containing an analysis of the previous night's events. The current status of the networks will be described, alongside with preliminary results. In addition, future projects, CCD photometry and broadband meteor color camera system, will be discussed.

Description: The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's electrostatic levitation (ESL) laboratory has been recently upgraded with an oxygen partial pressure controller. This system allows the oxygen partial pressure within the vacuum chamber to be measured and controlled, theoretically in the range from 1036 to 100 bar. The oxygen control system installed in the ESL laboratory's main chamber consists of an oxygen sensor, oxygen pump, and a control unit. The sensor is a potentiometric device that determines the difference in oxygen activity in two gas compartments (inside the chamber and the air outside of the chamber) separated by an electrolyte, which is yttriastabilized zirconia. The pump utilizes coulometric titration to either add or remove oxygen. The system is controlled by a desktop control unit, which can also be accessed via a computer. The controller performs temperature control for the sensor and pump, PID-based current loop, and a control algorithm. Oxygen partial pressure has been shown to play a significant role in the surface tension of liquid metals. Oxide films or dissolved oxygen may lead to significant changes in surface tension. The effects of oxygen partial pressure on the surface tension of undercooled liquid nickel will be analyzed, and the results will be presented. The surface tension will be measured at several different oxygen partial pressures while the sample is undercooled. Surface tension will be measured using the oscillating drop method. While undercooled, each sample will be oscillated several times consecutively to investigate how the surface tension behaves with time while at a particular oxygen partial pressure.

Description: This paper discusses the design of an automated imaging system for size characterization of debris produced by the DebriSat hypervelocity impact test. The goal of the DebriSat project is to update satellite breakup models. A representative LEO satellite, DebriSat, was constructed and subjected to a hypervelocity impact test. The impact produced an estimated 85,000 debris fragments. The size distribution of these fragments is required to update the current satellite breakup models. An automated imaging system was developed for the size characterization of the debris fragments. The system uses images taken from various azimuth and elevation angles around the object to produce a 3D representation of the fragment via a space carving algorithm. The system consists of N point-and-shoot cameras attached to a rigid support structure that defines the elevation angle for each camera. The debris fragment is placed on a turntable that is incrementally rotated to desired azimuth angles. The number of images acquired can be varied based on the desired resolution. Appropriate background and lighting is used for ease of object detection. The system calibration and image acquisition process are automated to result in push-button operations. However, for quality assurance reasons, the system is semi-autonomous by design to ensure operator involvement. This paper describes the imaging system setup, calibration procedure, repeatability analysis, and the results of the debris characterization.

Description: This is a presentation for an invited session at the 2015 SciTech Conference 53rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting. The presentation covers the recent applications of Background-Oriented Schlieren in NASA Glenn Research Center's ground test facilities, such as the 8x6 SWT, open jet rig, and AAPL.

Description: In applications where leak rates of components or systems are evaluated against a leak rate requirement, the uncertainty of the measured leak rate must be included in the reported result. However, in the helium mass spectrometer leak detection method, the sensitivity, or resolution, of the instrument is often the only component of the total measurement uncertainty noted when reporting results. To address this shortfall, a measurement uncertainty analysis method was developed that includes the leak detector unit's resolution, repeatability, hysteresis, and drift, along with the uncertainty associated with the calibration standard. In a step-wise process, the method identifies the bias and precision components of the calibration standard, the measurement correction factor (K-factor), and the leak detector unit. Together these individual contributions to error are combined and the total measurement uncertainty is determined using the root-sum-square method. It was found that the precision component contributes more to the total uncertainty than the bias component, but the bias component is not insignificant. For helium mass spectrometer leak rate tests where unit sensitivity alone is not enough, a thorough evaluation of the measurement uncertainty such as the one presented herein should be performed and reported along with the leak rate value.

Description: No abstract available

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Description: Femtosecond laser electronic excitation tagging (FLEET) is an optical measurement technique that permits quantitative velocimetry of unseeded air or nitrogen using a single laser and a single camera. In this paper, we seek to determine the fundamental precision of the FLEET technique using high-speed complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) cameras. Also, we compare the performance of several different high-speed CMOS camera systems for acquiring FLEET velocimetry data in air and nitrogen free-jet flows. The precision was defined as the standard deviation of a set of several hundred single-shot velocity measurements. Methods of enhancing the precision of the measurement were explored such as digital binning (similar in concept to on-sensor binning, but done in post-processing), row-wise digital binning of the signal in adjacent pixels and increasing the time delay between successive exposures. These techniques generally improved precision; however, binning provided the greatest improvement to the un-intensified camera systems which had low signal-to-noise ratio. When binning row-wise by 8 pixels (about the thickness of the tagged region) and using an inter-frame delay of 65 micro sec, precisions of 0.5 m/s in air and 0.2 m/s in nitrogen were achieved. The camera comparison included a pco.dimax HD, a LaVision Imager scientific CMOS (sCMOS) and a Photron FASTCAM SA-X2, along with a two-stage LaVision High Speed IRO intensifier. Excluding the LaVision Imager sCMOS, the cameras were tested with and without intensification and with both short and long inter-frame delays. Use of intensification and longer inter-frame delay generally improved precision. Overall, the Photron FASTCAM SA-X2 exhibited the best performance in terms of greatest precision and highest signal-to-noise ratio primarily because it had the largest pixels.

Description: No abstract available

Description: Observation of linear contrail cirrus coverage and retrieval of their optical properties are valuable data for validating atmospheric climate models that represent contrail formation explicitly. These data can reduce our uncertainty of the regional effects of contrail-generated cirrus on global radiative forcing, and thus improve our estimation of the impact of commercial aviation on climate change. We use an automated contrail detection algorithm (CDA) to determine the coverage of linear persistent contrails over the Northern Hemisphere during 2012. The contrail detection algorithm is a modified form of the Mannstein et al. (1999) method, and uses several channels from thermal infrared MODIS data to reduce the occurrence of false positive detections. A set of contrail masks of varying sensitivity is produced to define the potential range of uncertainty in contrail coverage estimated by the CDA. Global aircraft emissions waypoint data provided by FAA allow comparison of detected contrails with commercial aircraft flight tracks. A pixel-level product based on the advected flight tracks defined by the waypoint data and U-V wind component profiles from the NASA GMAO GEOS-4 reanalysis has been developed to assign a confidence of contrail detection for the contrail mask. To account for possible contrail cirrus missed by the CDA, a post-processing method based on the assumption that pixels adjacent to detected linear contrails will have radiative signatures similar to those of the detected contrails is applied to the Northern Hemisphere data. Results from several months of MODIS observations during 2012 will be presented, representing a near-global climatology of contrail coverage. Linear contrail coverage will be compared with coverage estimates determined previously from 2006 MODIS data.

Description: Both MODIS and VIIRS instruments use a solar diffuser (SD) for their reflective solar bands (RSB) on-orbit calibration. On-orbit changes in SD bi-directional reflectance factor (BRF) are tracked by a solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM) using its alternate measurements of the sunlight reflected off the SD panel and direct sunlight through a fixed attenuation screen. The SDSM calibration data are collected by a number of filtered detectors, covering wavelengths from 0.41 to 0.94 micrometers. In this paper we describe briefly the Terra and Aqua MODIS and S-NPP VIIRS SDSM on-orbit operation and calibration activities and strategies, provide an overall assessment of their SDSM on-orbit performance, including wavelength-dependent changes in the SDSM detector responses and changes in their SD BRF, and discuss remaining challenging issues and their potential impact on RSB calibration quality. Due to different launch dates, operating configurations, and calibration frequencies, the Terra and Aqua MODIS and S-NPP VIIRS SD have experienced different amount of SD degradation. However, in general the shorter the wavelength, the larger is the SD on-orbit degradation. On the other hand, the larger changes in SDSM detector responses are observed at longer wavelengths in the near infrared (NIR).

Description: Measurement is essential for the evaluation of new photovoltaic (PV) technology for space solar cells. NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is in the process of measuring several solar cells in a supplemental experiment on NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Robotic Refueling Mission's (RRM) Task Board 4 (TB4). Four industry and government partners have provided advanced PV devices for measurement and orbital environment testing. The experiment will be on-orbit for approximately 18 months. It is completely self-contained and will provide its own power and internal data storage. Several new cell technologies including four- junction (4J) Inverted Metamorphic Multijunction (IMM) cells will be evaluated and the results compared to ground-based measurements.

Description: We investigate the feasibility of gas-phase pressure measurements at kHz-rates using fs/ps rotational CARS. Femtosecond pump and Stokes pulses impulsively prepare a rotational Raman coherence, which is then probed by a high-energy 6-ps pulse introduced at a time delay from the Raman preparation. Rotational CARS spectra were recorded in N2 contained in a room-temperature gas cell for pressures from 0.1 to 3 atm and probe delays ranging from 10-330 ps. Using published self-broadened collisional linewidth data for N2, both the spectrally integrated coherence decay rate and the spectrally resolved decay were investigated as means for detecting pressure. Shot-averaged and single-laser-shot spectra were interrogated for pressure and the accuracy and precision as a function of probe delay and cell pressure are discussed. Single-shot measurement accuracies were within 0.1 to 6.5% when compared to a transducer values, while the precision was generally between 1% and 6% of measured pressure for probe delays of 200 ps or more, and better than 2% as the delay approached 300 ps. A byproduct of the pressure measurement is an independent but simultaneous measurement of the gas temperature.

Description: Femtosecond laser electronic excitation and tagging (FLEET) velocimetry is demonstrated in a large-scale transonic cryogenic wind tunnel. Test conditions include total pressures, total temperatures, and Mach numbers ranging from 15 to 58 psia, 200 to 295 K, and 0.2 to 0.75, respectively. Freestream velocity measurements exhibit accuracies within 1 percent and precisions better than 1 m/s. The measured velocities adhere closely to isentropic flow theory over the domain of temperatures and pressures that were tested. Additional velocity measurements are made within the tunnel boundary layer; virtual trajectories traced out by the FLEET signal are indicative of the characteristic turbulent behavior in this region of the flow, where the unsteadiness increases demonstrably as the wall is approached. Mean velocities taken within the boundary layer are in agreement with theoretical velocity profiles, though the fluctuating velocities exhibit a greater deviation from theoretical predictions.

Description: NASA uses batteries for virtually all of its space missions. Batteries can be bulky and heavy, and some chemistries are more prone to safety issues than others. To meet NASA's needs for safe, lightweight, compact and reliable batteries, scientists and engineers at NASA develop advanced battery technologies that are suitable for space applications and that can satisfy these multiple objectives. Many times, these objectives compete with one another, as the demand for more and more energy in smaller packages dictates that we use higher energy chemistries that are also more energetic by nature. NASA partners with companies and universities, like Xavier University of Louisiana, to pool our collective knowledge and discover innovative technical solutions to these challenges. This talk will discuss a little about NASA's use of batteries and why NASA seeks more advanced chemistries. A short primer on battery chemistries and their chemical reactions is included. Finally, the talk will touch on how the work under the Solid High Energy Lithium Battery (SHELiB) grant to develop solid lithium-ion conducting electrolytes and solid-state batteries can contribute to NASA's mission.

Description: Future NASA missions require high specific energy battery technologies, greater than 400 Wh/kg. Current NASA missions are using "state-of-the-art" (SOA) Li-ion batteries (LIB), which consist of a metal oxide cathode, a graphite anode and an organic electrolyte. NASA Glenn Research Center is currently studying the physical and electrochemical properties of the anode-electrolyte interface for ionic liquid based Li-air batteries. The voltage-time profiles for Pyr13FSI and Pyr14TFSI ionic liquids electrolytes studies on symmetric cells show low over-potentials and no dendritic lithium morphology. Cyclic voltammetry measurements indicate that these ionic liquids have a wide electrochemical window. As a continuation of this work, sp2 carbon cathode and these low flammability electrolytes were paired and the physical and electrochemical properties were studied in a Li-air battery system under an oxygen environment.

Description: We are reporting on a design, construction and performance of photon-counting detector packages based on silicon avalanche photodiodes. These photon-counting devices have been optimized for extremely high stability of their detection delay. The detectors have been designed for future applications in fundamental metrology and optical time transfer in space. The detectors have been qualified for operation in space missions. The exceptional radiation tolerance of the detection chip itself and of all critical components of a detector package has been verified in a series of experiments.

Description: The calibration effort for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) Analog Fluxgate (AFG) and DigitalFluxgate (DFG) magnetometers is a coordinated effort between three primary institutions: University of California, LosAngeles (UCLA); Space Research Institute, Graz, Austria (IWF); and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Since thesuccessful deployment of all 8 magnetometers on 17 March 2015, the effort to confirm and update the groundcalibrations has been underway during the MMS commissioning phase. The in-flight calibration processes evaluatetwelve parameters that determine the alignment, orthogonalization, offsets, and gains for all 8 magnetometers usingalgorithms originally developed by UCLA and the Technical University of Braunschweig and tailored to MMS by IWF,UCLA, and GSFC. We focus on the processes run at GSFC to determine the eight parameters associated with spin tonesand harmonics. We will also discuss the processing flow and interchange of parameters between GSFC, IWF, and UCLA.IWF determines the low range spin axis offsets using the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI). UCLA determines the absolutegains and sensor azimuth orientation using Earth field comparisons. We evaluate the performance achieved for MMS andgive examples of the quality of the resulting calibrations.