CryoTracker Mass Gauging System

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• Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System
• An Innovative Technology for Space
• Mark S. Haberbusch
• Director of Research and Technology
• Sierra Lobo, Inc.
• Milan, Ohio
• [phone]
• mhaberbusch_at_sierralobo.com
• 7th NRO/AIAA Space Launch Integration Forum
• Scitor Corporation, Chantilly, VA
• July 24 - 25, 2007

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Presentation Outline

• NASA Innovative Partnership Program
• Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System (MGS)
• Space Launch Applications for Cryo-Tracker
• Source of Our Innovation
• Sierra Lobo Innovation Process
• Recommendations for Transition

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NASA Innovative Partnership Program
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NASA Innovative Partnership Program

• Provides leveraged technology for NASA Programs
  through investments and technology partnerships
  with Industry, Academia, Government Agencies, and
  National Laboratories.
• The IPP Partnership Seed Fund enhances NASAs
  ability to meet mission technology goals by
  providing seed funding to address barriers and
  initiate cost-shared, joint-development
  partnerships.
• The Fund provides bridge funding to enable
  larger partnerships and development efforts to
  occur.

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NASA Innovative Partnership Program

• Partnership Goals Include
• Provide an increased range of technology
  solutions
• Broadened NASAs technology portfolio
• Improve cost avoidance
• Accelerate development and maturation of
  technologies
• Create a larger pool of qualified commercial
  providers

The Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System Hardware
and Flight Qualification Risk Reduction Program
is Being Sponsored by the NASA Innovative
Partnership Program
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Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System
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Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System
Problem Statement

• Accurate mass gauging of cryogenic propellants
  loaded onto a space launch vehicle is critical
  for mission success
• High-fidelity data is necessary for defining the
  thermodynamic states and quantities of cryogenic
  propellants, improving capability to characterize
  pre-launch operations, flight environments,
  signaling engine cut-off, and verifying
  analytical models

A More Accurate, Reliable, Lightweight Sensor is
Needed to Improve Responsiveness and Performance
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Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System

• Three Components
• Probe
• Electronics
• Software
• Probe Features
• Mechanically flexible
• Lightweight
• One-piece construction
• Temperature sensing
• Liquid level sensing
• Easily customized
• Any length and width
• Silicon diode sensing elements embedded in custom
  quantities and locations

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Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System

• Designed for flight
• Useful in any cryogen tank
• Normal boiling point cryogens
• Proven in hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, liquid
  natural gas, and kerosene (non-cryogen)
• Densified/sub-cooled cryogens with liquid
  stratification

Redundancy easily added
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Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System

• Design Inputs
• Test parameters driven by Atlas V LOX tank
  operations on the launch pad and in flight
• Prototype Cryo-Tracker probe optimized for
  testing in EPL Cell 5
• Resulting Probe
• 1 x 0.026 x 33
• 0.70 lbm
• 15 diodes (Optimized for Atlas V)
• 4 clustered at top
• 4 clustered at bottom
• 7 spaced widely in the middle

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Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System

• Two mounting points
• Mounting points 26 apart

Top Mount
Bottom Mount
View from the Top
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Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System

• Probe resistance to harsh environments
• Handling
• Thermal cycling
• Severe geysering, turbulence, and sloshing
• No loss in signal or structural integrity

Boiling Liquid Nitrogen

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Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System
Current NASA IPP Activities

• Developing Flight System Verification Plans
• Conducting (FEA) on the probe using NASTRAN to
  verify structural margins and resonance
  frequencies
• Obtaining probe-specific material property data
• Converting proven MGS electronics for operation
  in a space-vacuum environment
• Develop a new tank feed-through for direct
  passage of the probe through the tank wall

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Space Launch Applications for Cryo-Tracker
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Space Launch Applications for Cryo-Tracker

• Space Launch Vehicles
• Upper Stages
• Spacecraft (reduced gravity version)
• RD Test Facilities
• Aircraft
• Ground Support Supply Dewars
• Rocket Engine Test Stands
• Process Systems Level Measurements

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Source of Our Innovation
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Densified Propellant Management SystemTM for
Launch Vehicles
Launch Vehicle Cryogenic Propellant Tanks
LH2 Storage Dewar
Cryo-Tracker Mass Gauging System
LOX Storage Dewar
Thermoacoustic Densifier
Increase Payload Capacity and Responsiveness
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Sierra Lobo, Inc. Innovation Process
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Sierra Lobo Innovation Process

• Market research obtained from in-the-field
  information (SLI Support Service) and potential
  customer requirements (i.e., NASA)
• Initial ideas are generated and funded by
  Internal Research and Development (IRAD) for
  feasibility
• Government sources of funding are sought (i.e.,
  SBIR, Sole Source Phase III, NRA, Programs)
• Intellectual Property (IP) captured in design,
  fabrication, and testing
• SBIR laws protect small businesses and provide
  technology to investors and the Government

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Recommendations for Transition
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Recommendations for Transition

• Persistence and commitment
• Champions inside the customer
• Involve customer in product requirements (include
  flight qualification requirements)
• Reduce transition risk through testing
• Involve customers in your test program
• Low-cost flight opportunities as secondary
  payloads for flight qualification and acceptance

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We will be known by the tracks we
leaveDAKOTA PROVERB Wolves have long been
regarded by Native Americans as teachers or
pathfinders. Wolves are fiercely loyal to their
mates and have a strong sense of family while
maintaining individualism.To many, the wolf
symbolizes freedom, the spirit of nature,
resourcefulness, and adaptability, even under the
most dire circumstances. Sierra Lobo (mountain
wolf) takes its name from this resilient creature
and aspires to the extraordinary traits that the
wolf has come to symbolize.www.sierralobo.com
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