Browse Topic: Balloons

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Microphone Detects Turbulence Hundreds of Miles AwayTBMG-3978409/01/2021
Spinoff is NASA’s annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields of health and medicine, consumer goods, transportation, public safety, computer technology, and environmental resources.
Flight Test Procedures for Static Pressure Systems Installed in Subsonic Transport AircraftARP921B (Current)12/22/2020
This SAE Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) covers the test procedures and equipment for performing flight testing on pitot-static systems installed in subsonic transport type aircraft.
A-4 Aircraft Instruments Committee
Safety Analysis of an Airship Which Loses Lifting Gas from the Hull2018-01-195410/30/2018
This study investigates the physical phenomena that affect a high-altitude airship in the presence of lifting gas losses from the hull. General atmospheric thermodynamics and basic physical principles are adopted to describe the behavior of an airship with envelope failures that generate buoyant gas dispersion or depressurisation phenomena. Overpressure that could grant to maintain some controllability during a large part of the descent is assessed by mean of the thermodynamic model of the envelope in the presence of gas losses. Optimisation of the inflation parameters is provided and the conditions for avoiding dangerous crashes on the ground and the potential recovery of a damaged vehicle, people and its payload. In particular, the requirements for a slow depressurisation is computed by the equilibrium with the atmosphere and then how can it be possible to sustain controlled navigation are determined. A key factor for security relates directly to the capability of preserving some
Trancossi, Michele, Pascoa, Jose, Cannistraro, Giuseppe
Products of Tomorrow: April 2018TBMG-2871004/01/2018
This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.
Tradeoff Study of High Altitude Solar Reflector Concepts2017-01-214309/19/2017
A direct solution to Global Warming would be to reflect a part of sunlight back into Space. A system tradeoff study is being developed with three of the concepts that are being evaluated as long-endurance high-altitude reflectors. The first concept is a high aspect ratio solar powered flying wing towing reflector sheets. This concept is named “Flying Carpet”. Second is a centrifugally stretched high altitude solar reflector (CSHASR). The CSHASR has 4 rotors made of reflector sheets with a hub stretching to 60 percent of the radius, held together by an ultralight quad-rotor structure. Each rotor is powered by a solar-electric motor. A variation on this concept, forced by nighttime descent rate concerns, is powered by tip-mounted solar panels and propellers with some battery storage augmenting rotational inertia as well as energy storage. The third concept is an Aerostatically Balanced Reflector (ABR) sheet, held up by hydrogen balloons. A set of co-axial counter-rotating rotors provides
Komerath, Narayanan, Shukla, Dhwanil, Hariharan, Shravan, Patel, Sahaj, Hiremath, Nandeesh
Data Fusion Techniques for Object Identification in Airport Environment2017-01-210909/19/2017
Airport environments consist of several moving objects both in the air and on the ground. In air moving objects include aircraft, UAVs and birds etc. On ground moving objects include aircraft, ground vehicles and ground personnel etc. Detecting, classifying, identifying and tracking these objects are necessary for avoiding collisions in all environmental situations. Multiple sensors need to be employed for capturing the object shape and position from multiple directions. Data from these sensors are combined and processed for object identification. In current scenario, there is no comprehensive traffic monitoring system that uses multisensor data for monitoring in all the airport areas. In this paper, for explanation purposes, a hypothetical airport traffic monitoring system is presumed that uses multiple sensors for avoiding collisions. The referenced system employs multiple types of sensors for object data collection in different situations, wherein the collected multi object data is
Thupakula, Kiran
Wire Sensors Detect Dangerous Conditions in the CloudsTBMG-2705706/01/2017
Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields of health and medicine, consumer goods, transportation, public safety, computer technology, and environmental resources.
A Methodology for Collision Prediction and Alert Generation in Airport Environment2016-01-197609/20/2016
Aviation safety is one of the key focus areas of the aerospace industry as it involves safety of passengers, crew, assets etc. Due to advancements in technology, aviation safety has reached to safest levels compared to last few decades. In spite of declining trends in in-air accident rate, ground accidents are increasing due to ever increasing air traffic and human factors in the airport. Majority of the accidents occur during initial and final phases of the flight. Rapid increase in air traffic would pose challenge in ensuring safety and best utilization of Airports, Airspace and assets. In current scenario multiple systems like Runway Debris Monitoring System, Runway Incursion Detection System, Obstacle avoidance system and Traffic Collision Avoidance System are used for collision prediction and alerting in airport environment. However these approaches are standalone in nature and have limitations in coverage, performance and are dependent on onboard equipment. There is a need to
Thupakula, Kiran, Sivaramasastry, Adishesha, Gampa, Srikanth
Super Pressure Balloon Provides NASA with Valuable DataTBMG-2437004/01/2016
Super pressure balloon Raven Aerostar Sioux Falls, SD 605-336-2750
Preparing for First Flight on MarsTBMG-2357612/01/2015
With its eye on Mars, NASA Armstrong has been working on a prototype it refers to as the Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars, or Prandtl-m, which is “a flying wing aircraft with a twist.” It is planned to be ready for launch from a high-altitude balloon later this year and will be released at about 100,000 ft. That altitude will allow it to operate in similar flight conditions as the Martian atmosphere, according to Al Bowers, NASA Armstrong Chief Scientist and Prandtl-m Program Manager.
Low-Cost, Portable Platform for Mounting Multiple Antennas for Automatic UAV TrackingTBMG-2302710/01/2015
Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center have developed an innovative antenna-mounting platform that addresses an unmet need in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market.
Airship and Hot Air Balloon Real Time Envelope Shape Prediction through a Cloth Simulation Technique2015-01-257809/15/2015
The flight simulation of airships and hot air balloons usually considers the envelope geometry as a fixed shape, whose volume is eventually reduced by ballonets. However, the dynamic pressure or helium leaks in airships, and the release of air to allow descent in hot air balloons can significantly change the shape of the envelope leading to potential dangerous situations. In fact, in case of semi-rigid and non-rigid airships a reduction in envelope internal pressure can reduce the envelope bending stiffness leading to the loss of the typical axial-symmetric shape. For hot air balloons thing goes even worse since the lost of internal pressure can lead to the collapsing of the balloon shape to a sort of vertically stretched geometry (similar to a torch) which is not able to sustain the attached basket and its payload. These effect should be considered in simulations, however to compute in real time the envelope shape with Finite Element Methods is a complex and demanding task due to the
Ceruti, Alessandro, Marzocca, Piergiovanni
Image Processing Based Air Vehicles Classification for UAV Sense and Avoid Systems2015-01-247109/15/2015
The maturity reached in the development of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) systems is making them more and more attractive for a vast number of civil missions. Clearly, the introduction of UAVs in the civil airspace requiring practical and effective regulation is one of the most critical issues being currently discussed. As several civil air authorities report in their regulations “Sense and Avoid” or “Detect and Avoid” capabilities are critical to the successful integration of UAV into the civil airspace. One possible approach to achieve this capability, specifically for operations beyond the Line-of-Sight, would be to equip air vehicles with a vision-based system using cameras to monitor the surrounding air space and to classify other air vehicles flying in close proximity. This paper presents an image-based application for the supervised classification of air vehicles. First, several vehicle images, taken from different points of view, are transformed using a descriptor of salient
Ceruti, Alessandro, Curatolo, Simone, Bevilacqua, Alessandro, Marzocca, Piergiovanni
Scientific Balloons as Solar SailsTBMG-2241207/01/2015
Existing scientific research balloons such as those launched from Wallops Flight Facility could be placed in near- Earth space where they would perform as solar sails, providing relatively inexpensive propulsion systems for interplanetary missions. The balloons would accelerate at rates comparable with the ion drive performance of the NASA Dawn spacecraft, so they would enable unprecedented low-cost access to interplanetary space.
Initial Results from Radiometer and Polarimetric Radar-based Icing Algorithms Compared to In-situ Data2015-01-215306/15/2015
In early 2015, a field campaign was conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The purpose of the campaign is to test several prototype algorithms meant to detect the location and severity of in-flight icing (or icing aloft, as opposed to ground icing) within the terminal airspace. Terminal airspace for this project is currently defined as within 25 kilometers horizontal distance of the terminal, which in this instance is Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland. Two new and improved algorithms that utilize ground-based remote sensing instrumentation have been developed and were operated during the field campaign. The first is the ‘NASA Icing Remote Sensing System’, or NIRSS. The second algorithm is the ‘Radar Icing Algorithm’, or RadIA. In addition to these algorithms, which were derived from ground-based remote sensors, in-situ icing measurements of the profiles of supercooled liquid water (SLW) collected with vibrating wire sondes attached to weather
Serke, David, King, Michael, Reehorst, Andrew
NASA Sensors Detect Aircraft Icing HazardsTBMG-2214405/01/2015
Atmospheric Icing Sensors Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH
NASA, UCF Professor Send Sensor to StratosphereTBMG-2214205/01/2015
Planetary Atmospheres Minor Species Sensor (PAMSS) University of Central Florida Orlando, FL
Neutron Spectrometer for Inner Radiation Belt StudiesTBMG-2199105/01/2015
The Earth’s magnetosphere offers a wealth of information on particle dynamics, acceleration, and trapping. Fast neutrons, produced in the Earth’s atmosphere by the impact of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs), are an important but poorly measured component of the radiation environment in the inner magnetosphere. Cosmic ray albedo neutron decay (CRAND), whereby atmospheric neutrons beta-decay into protons and electrons, is a significant source of energetic protons in the inner radiation belt. Current models of the inner proton belt rely heavily on Monte Carlo simulations for the CRAND component, validated primarily by a handful of single-point balloon measurements from the 1970s.
Low-Weight, Durable, Low-Cost Metal Rubber Sensor System for Ultra-Long-Duration Scientific BalloonsTBMG-2125001/01/2015
Large axial load forces and extreme temperature ranges are typical for scientific balloon missions. Therefore, a durable, flexible, and thermally stable sensor material is needed. In this innovation, sensors have been designed to be integrated onto the load-bearing seams and/or outer balloon mesh polyethylene surface of the pressurized balloon system to measure accurately and continually axial loads under extreme environmental conditions for extended intervals (i.e. more than 100 days).
Aerostatic Aircraft Flight Environment Modeling and Investigation2014-01-214709/16/2014
Airship dimensions define the application of the computer modeling methods under their development and investigation. Herein, the need to simulate the flight environment state - the atmospheric conditions of their traffic route - arises. The atmospheric parameters have both regular and random components, which is due to the nonstationarity of the atmospheric phenomena. Hence, it is essential to define the actual ranges, and the representative values of the atmospheric effects. Weather data are used for the analysis and the airflow performance computation in the operational area. Through their statistical processing, we need to obtain the most informative characteristics of the weather conditions in whole, and of their trends. The investigation has shown that the weather data gathering system is nonperfect. The sampling frequency is irregular and not high, test values in the specific parameters are obtained asynchronously. At this, altitude is the most critical parameter under measuring
Neydorf, Rudolf, Sigida, Youriy, Kudinov, Nikita, Portnova, Elena
Lasers Used to Pop Cancer-Killing ‘Chemo’ BalloonsTBMG-1986906/01/2014
Scientists at the University of Buffalo, NY, are exploring the use of PoP-liposomes or nanoballoons to get chemotherapy drugs where they need to go. They then blast the balloons with red lasers to release the drugs. They say this approach could make chemo more effective while reducing side effects.
KSC Spaceport Weather Data ArchiveTBMG-1989206/01/2014
The Spaceport Weather Data Archive provides a fully searchable database of weather data gathered at Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Weather data includes wind, temperature, and humidity data from a surface meteorological tower network; upper air soundings from both weather balloons and radar wind profilers; and data from the extensive rain gauge network. Not only can the user easily retrieve data and download it, but the user can also view graphically the weather data on a map overlay. For example, the user can enter search criteria to view all lightning strikes ending at a particular date/time, and graphically see the lightning strikes color-coded based on elapsed time for the prior seven hours. A unique feature of the software is the capability to invoke an automated playback for cloud-to-ground lightning events on a geographic overlay for a selected date and time interval.
Lightweight Liquid Helium Dewar for High-Altitude Balloon PayloadsTBMG-1745510/01/2013
Astrophysical observations at millimeter wavelengths require large (2-to-5- meter diameter) telescopes carried to altitudes above 35 km by scientific research balloons. The scientific performance is greatly enhanced if the telescope is cooled to temperatures below 10 K with no emissive windows between the telescope and the sky. Standard liquid helium bucket dewars can contain a suitable telescope for telescope diameter less than two meters. However, the mass of a dewar large enough to hold a 3-to-5-meter diameter telescope would exceed the balloon lift capacity.
A Predictive Climatic Model for Ballast in a Fixed Volume Blimp2013-01-220409/17/2013
This paper presents a mathematical model of the vertical forces acting on an airship during vertical motion. The main effort is the definition of an airship model, which move only vertically by ballast, and buoyancy effects, with a much reduced energy consumption for take-off and landing operations. It has been considered a disc-shaped airship, which can operate using the open balloon airship architecture defined to operate safely with hydrogen. This architecture does not require internal ballonets, because of the connected increased fire dangers that they create even if vented. Several models of airship based on vertical forces have been presented in literature. They often consider only the US or International Standard Atmosphere models and they neglect effects of weather conditions. The latter are connected with the location and with the season. These environmental and climatic factors have a large influence on behaviors of the airship system, because it is well known that the
Dumas, Antonio, Madonia, Mauro, Trancossi, Michele
Methods of Statistical Processing of Meteorological Data for the Tasks of Trajectory Planning of MAAT Feeders2013-01-226609/17/2013
Problems of mathematical description and modeling of aerostatic vehicles are considered in the paper. Task of regression recovery of blank numbers with thermodynamic parameters is stated. Solve of stated task 2 regression models, describing how altitude depends on pressure and temperature for 2 layers: tropospheric (0 - 11 km) and lower stratospheric (11 - 20 km). The main result of research is development of mathematical, algorithmic and software solutions for the task of planning of energy-efficient trajectories. Developed models will allow development of dynamic models of atmosphere for aerostatic vehicles.
Neydorf, Rudolf, Krukhmalev, Victor, Kudinov, Nikita, Pshikhopov, Viacheslav
Medical Device Market Pushes the Limits of TubingTBMG-1721609/01/2013
Medical device manufacturers are being challenged by strong market demand for tubing that delivers increased functionality, lower profiles, and lower costs—pushing the limits of material behavior and manufacturing science. Next-generation balloon catheters are expected to deliver significantly higher burst pressures and better puncture resistance. They are also being designed to transport target-specific drug-polymer payloads or flexible microelectronic packages to various parts of the human body. These enhanced miniaturization and functionality requirements of medical devices are also creating substantial design and manufacturability challenges. For example, how can an R&D team combine a 35-atm balloon with a robust weld and corresponding shaft tube, within a folded balloon profile that is compatible with a 0.065 inch sheath?
Low-Level Light Therapy Could Be Used to Treat Alzheimer’s PatientsTBMG-1563801/01/2013
Among Americans over 80, who represent the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, half are debilitated with a neurodegenerative disorder. Of this group, 5.4 million now have Alzheimer’s Disease, and according to recent data released by the Alzheimer’s Association, by the year 2050 that number is expected to balloon to 16 million. As prevalence numbers steadily climb, the key to combatting the Alzheimer’s epidemic is to focus on diagnosing the disease long before it ravages the brain. And the best place to start is the heart, says Jack C. de la Torre, adjunct professor of psychology at The University of Texas at Austin.
Next-Generation Tumbleweed RoverTBMG-1527812/01/2012
A document describes a next-generation tumbleweed rover that involves a split balloon system that is made up of two half-spherical air bladders with a disc between them. This disc contains all the electronics and instruments. By deflating only the bottom balloon, the rover can sit, bringing the surface probe into contact with the ground. The bottom balloon has a channel passing through it, allowing the surface probe to reach the surface through the balloon. Once the sample has been gathered and analyzed, the rover can re-inflate the lower air bladder and continue rolling.
Advantages of Laser Micromachining for Balloons and CathetersTBMG-1531812/01/2012
Drug-eluting balloon (DEB) and drug delivery catheter (DDC) based treatments are increasingly being offered and used for the treatment of coronary, peripheral, neurovascular, and ENT applications. European markets have already seen a larger acceptance of these therapy choices ahead of the US markets. However, large randomized studies are underway in various stages of data collection to clearly quantify the advantages of balloon catheters over drug eluting stents, longstanding procedures like percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, surgical interventions (e.g., atherectomy or grafts), and drug therapy-like tissue plasminogen activator.
Soft Tissue Expansion Solutions for Reconstructive SurgeryTBMG-1393106/01/2012
The concept of tissue expansion for surgical reconstruction was first reported over 50 years ago, although the technique did not gain popular acceptance until the 1980s, when it was used predominantly in delayed breast reconstruction.
Fire-safe Airship System Design2012-01-151202/29/2012
This paper presents the new Hydrogen Fire-safe Airship system that overcomes the limitations present in previous airships designs of that kind, when considering their functioning at advanced operative position. Hydrogen is considered to be more effective than helium because of its low-cost production by hydrolysis, which process is nicely driven only by the photovoltaic energy. This paper presents a novel architectural concept of the buoyant balloon designed to increase the fire related safety, when applying hydrogen as the buoyant gas. The proposed buoyant volume is designed as a multi-balloon structure with a naturally ventilated shape, to ensure that hydrogen cannot reach the dangerous concentration level in the central airship balloon. This concept is expected to be the start of a novel hydrogen airship type, to be much safer than preceding ones. It permits to reduce the traditional economic costs, when compared with helium inflated airships, due to the helium scarcity in the world
Pascoa, Jose, Trancossi, Michele, Dumas, Antonio, Madonia, Mauro, Vucinic, Dean
Sonic Thermometer for High-Altitude BalloonsTBMG-TB-01265101/03/2012
A stand-alone version of the sensor would have utility as a gas composition sensor in industrial process situations. The sonic thermometer is a specialized application of well-known sonic anemometer technology. Adaptations have been made to the circuit, including the addition of supporting sensors, which enable its use in the high-altitude environment and in non-air gas mixtures.
Sonic Thermometer for High-Altitude BalloonsTBMG-1265101/01/2012
The sonic thermometer is a specialized application of well-known sonic anemometer technology. Adaptations have been made to the circuit, including the addition of supporting sensors, which enable its use in the high-altitude environment and in non-air gas mixtures.
FLIGHT TEST PROCEDURES FOR STATIC PRESSURE SYSTEMS INSTALLED IN SUBSONIC TRANSPORT AIRCRAFTARP921 (Historical)08/10/2011
This Aerospace Recommended Practice covers the test procedures and equipment for performing flight testing on pitot-static systems installed in subsonic transport type aircraft.
A-4 Aircraft Instruments Committee
Probabilistic Path Planning of Montgolfier Balloons in Strong, Uncertain Wind FieldsTBMG-1076008/01/2011
Lighter-than-air vehicles such as hot-air balloons have been proposed for exploring Saturn’s moon Titan, as well as other bodies with significant atmospheres. For these vehicles to navigate effectively, it is critical to incorporate the effects of surrounding wind fields, especially as these winds will likely be strong relative to the control authority of the vehicle. Predictive models of these wind fields are available, and previous research has considered problems of planning paths subject to these predicted forces. However, such previous work has considered the wind fields as known a priori, whereas in practical applications, the actual wind vector field is not known exactly and may deviate significantly from the wind velocities estimated by the model.
Probabilistic Path Planning of Montgolfier Balloons in Strong, Uncertain Wind FieldsTBMG-TB-01076008/01/2011
Lighter-than-air vehicles such as hot-air balloons have been proposed for exploring Saturn’s moon Titan, as well as other bodies with significant atmospheres. For these vehicles to navigate effectively, it is critical to incorporate the effects of surrounding wind fields, especially as these winds will likely be strong relative to the control authority of the vehicle. Predictive models of these wind fields are available, and previous research has considered problems of planning paths subject to these predicted forces. However, such previous work has considered the wind fields as known a priori, whereas in practical applications, the actual wind vector field is not known exactly and may deviate significantly from the wind velocities estimated by the model.
In Situ Aerosol DetectorTBMG-1046007/01/2011
An affordable technology designed to facilitate extensive global atmospheric aerosol measurements has been developed. This lightweight instrument is compatible with newly developed platforms such as tethered balloons, blimps, kites, and even disposable instruments such as dropsondes. This technology is based on detection of light scattered by aerosol particles where an optical layout is used to enhance the performance of the laboratory prototype instrument, which allows detection of smaller aerosol particles and improves the accuracy of aerosol particle size measurement.
Schottky Heterodyne Receivers With Full Waveguide BandwidthTBMG-1012906/01/2011
Compact THz receivers with broad bandwidth and low noise have been developed for the frequency range from 100 GHz to 1 THz. These receivers meet the requirements for high-resolution spectroscopic studies of planetary atmospheres (including the Earth’s) from spacecraft, as well as airborne and balloon platforms. The ongoing research is significant not only for the development of Schottky mixers, but also for the creation of a receiver system, including the LO chain.
Multi-Modal Image Registration and Matching for Localization of a Balloon on TitanTBMG-945203/01/2011
A solution was developed that matches visible/IR imagery aboard a balloon in Saturn’s moon Titan’s atmosphere to SAR (synthetic aperture radar) and visible/IR data acquired from orbit. A balloon in Titan’s atmosphere must be able to localize itself autonomously both globally and with respect to local terrain. The orbital data is used to provide the balloon imagery with global context.
Multi-Modal Image Registration and Matching for Localization of a Balloon on TitanTBMG-TB-00945203/01/2011
A solution was developed that matches visible/IR imagery aboard a balloon in Saturn’s moon Titan’s atmosphere to SAR (synthetic aperture radar) and visible/IR data acquired from orbit. A balloon in Titan’s atmosphere must be able to localize itself autonomously both globally and with respect to local terrain. The orbital data is used to provide the balloon imagery with global context.
Distributed Control of Long Slender Robotic ManipulatorsTBMG-919002/01/2011
Sample acquisition from small bodies is a key capability needed for proposed comet and asteroid sample return missions. This investigation determines how to utilize shape memory materials (SMMs) in sampling booms that result in improved sampling capability. By training an SMM wire to remember a given straight or curved shape when heated or cooled down to a given temperature, a long wire with low inherent bending stiffness may be ejected or unreeled from a spacecraft and then transformed into a long thin beam via a controlled material phase transition. Once the phase transition has been induced, the wire exhibits a bending stiffness that did not exist before, and the deployed appendage operates now as a stiff robotic arm.
Grid-Sphere Electrodes for Contact With Ionospheric PlasmaTBMG-861710/01/2010
Grid-sphere electrodes have been proposed for use on the positively biased end of electrodynamic space tethers. A grid-sphere electrode is fabricated by embedding a wire mesh in a thin film from which a spherical balloon is formed. The grid-sphere electrode would be deployed from compact stowage by inflating the balloon in space. The thin-film material used to inflate the balloon is formulated to vaporize when exposed to the space environment. This would leave the bare metallic spherical grid electrode attached to the tether, which would present a small cross-sectional area (essentially, the geometric wire shadow area only) to incident neutral atoms and molecules. Most of the neutral particles, which produce dynamic drag when they impact a surface, would pass unimpeded through the open grid spaces. However, partly as a result of buildup of a space charge inside the grid-sphere, and partially, the result of magnetic-field effects, the electrode would act almost like a solid surface with
Grid-Sphere Electrodes for Contact With Ionospheric PlasmaTBMG-TB-00861710/01/2010
Grid-sphere electrodes have been proposed for use on the positively biased end of electrodynamic space tethers. A grid-sphere electrode is fabricated by embedding a wire mesh in a thin film from which a spherical balloon is formed. The grid-sphere electrode would be deployed from compact stowage by inflating the balloon in space. The thin-film material used to inflate the balloon is formulated to vaporize when exposed to the space environment. This would leave the bare metallic spherical grid electrode attached to the tether, which would present a small cross-sectional area (essentially, the geometric wire shadow area only) to incident neutral atoms and molecules. Most of the neutral particles, which produce dynamic drag when they impact a surface, would pass unimpeded through the open grid spaces. However, partly as a result of buildup of a space charge inside the grid-sphere, and partially, the result of magnetic-field effects, the electrode would act almost like a solid surface with
Graph-Based Path-Planning for Titan BalloonsTBMG-796705/01/2010
A document describes a graph-based path-planning algorithm for balloons with vertical control authority and little or no horizontal control authority. The balloons are designed to explore celestial bodies with atmospheres, such as Titan, a moon of Saturn. The algorithm discussed enables the balloon to achieve horizontal motion using the local horizontal winds. The approach is novel because it enables the balloons to use arbitrary wind field models. This is in contrast to prior approaches that used highly simplified wind field models, such as linear, or binary, winds.
Techniques for Controlling Buoyancy of Balloons on TitanTBMG-TB-00668801/07/2010
A report discusses alternative techniques for controlling the buoyancy, and thus the altitude and landings, of a balloon-borne instrumentation system that would be launched to explore the moon Titan of the planet Saturn. Some of the techniques are based on established concepts of heating or cooling gases in balloons. One technique involves the acquisition or release of gaseous ballast by compressing and liquefying atmospheric gas into a pressure vessel (or allowing the liquefied gas to vent back to the atmosphere); a similar technique involves compressing atmospheric gas into (or releasing it from) a bladder. The simplest and preferred buoyancy technique is to use controlled heating of the helium balloon by means of diverting waste heat from a radioisotope thermoelectric power source.
Radiometer on a ChipTBMG-635912/01/2009
Submillimeter-wave radiometers have traditionally been built by packaging each chip with a distinct function separately, and then combining the packaged chips to form subsystems. Instead of packaging one chip at a time, the radiometer on a chip (ROC) integrates whole wafers together to provide a robust, extremely powerful way of making submillimeter receivers that provide vertically integrated functionality. By integrating at the wafer level, customizing the interconnects, and planarizing the transmission media, it is possible to create a lightweight assembly performing the function of several pieces in a more conventional radiometer. This represents a greater than 50-fold decrease in both volume and mass. The act of combining the individual radiometer functions into a sequence of chips will also improve inter-component matching and reduce the loss associated with the power combining that accompanies today’s radiometers. Most of the gain fluctuations in present- day radiometers are the
Cloud Water Content Sensor for Sounding Balloons and Small UAVsTBMG-575810/01/2009
A lightweight, battery-powered sensor was developed for measuring cloud water content, which is the amount of liquid or solid water present in a cloud, generally expressed as grams of water per cubic meter. This sensor has near-zero power consumption and can be flown on standard sounding balloons and small, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Tethered Pyrotechnic Apparatus for Acquiring a Ground SampleTBMG-550008/01/2009
A proposed alternative design for the balloon- borne ground-sampling system described in the immediately preceding article would not rely on free fall to drive a harpoonlike sample-collecting device into the ground. Instead, the harpoon-like sample-collecting device would be a pyrotechnically driven, tethered projectile.
Collecting Ground Samples for Balloon-Borne InstrumentsTBMG-549908/01/2009
A proposed system in a gondola containing scientific instruments suspended by a balloon over the surface of the Saturn moon Titan would quickly acquire samples of rock or ice from the ground below. Prototypes of a sample-collecting device that would be a major part of the system have been tested under cryogenic and non-cryogenic conditions on Earth. Systems like this one could also be used in non-cryogenic environments on Earth to collect samples of rock, soil, ice, mud, or other ground material from such inaccessible or hazardous locations as sites of suspected chemical spills or biological contamination.
Developing Education and Outreach Initiatives at the Indiana Space Grant Consortium2009-01-254607/12/2009
The Indiana Space Grant Consortium is one of 52 members of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (“Space Grant”), which was initiated by NASA in 1988. Space Grant is designed to be a source of NASA-related information, awards, and programs to enhance education, outreach, and workforce development for the United States. Based on the land grant model of public university education, Space Grant seeks to spread the vision of NASA to increase science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) awareness; NASA-related education; workforce development; outreach and research activities. This paper describes the evolution of these activities in Indiana.
Caldwell, Barrett S.
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