Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Speaker, E. E..
A summary of recommendations of the Concept Development Group of the NASA Space Station Task Force is given. The recommendations address the principal technical issues related to Space Station architecture, with emphasis given to design geometry. Line drawings of the four Space Station candidate geometries are provided, including: a planar geometry; a streamline geometry; a delta; and the 'power tower' concept.
A figure-of-merit parameter for the scientific utility of multispectral linear array (MLA) instruments for civil remote sensing is presented. The number of spectral band-pair choices available to the user of a given MLA instrument is proposed as a useful measure of the flexibility and overall utility of that particular instrument design. The multiband selection device capability is analyzed mathematically, and a basis for a cost-benefit comparison of alternative multispectral instrument designs is provided.
Band-to-band coregistration of multispectral remote sensing images can be achieved by electronic signal processing techniques rather than by costly and difficult mechanical alignment. This paper describes the results of a study of the end-to-end performance of electronic registration. The software simulation includes steps which model the performance of the geometric calibration process, the instrument image quality, detector performance and the effects of achieving coregistration through image resampling. The image resampling step emulates the Pipelined Resampling Processor, a real-time image resampler. The study demonstrates that the electronic alignment technique produces multispectral images which are superior to those produced by an imager whose pixel geometry is accurate to 0.1 pixel rms. The implications of this approach for future earth observation programs are discussed.
The Multispectral Linear Array (MLA) is a solid-state earth imagery radiometer operating in the 'push-broom' mode and using a focal plane containing multiple spectral band linear detector arrays. The MLA sensor offers the capability for increased spatial and spectral resolution with multiple selectable bands and in-orbit operation flexibility. Both free-flyer (satellite) and Shuttle-attached instrument designs have been studied. Four Shuttle-attached MLA instrument design studies were initiated in 1982, and the concepts resulting from these studies are described.