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Virginia Polytechnic Institute has been carrying out a comprehensive set of propagation measurements using the OLYMPUS satellite beacons at 12.5, 20, and 30 GHz since August 1990. Total power radiometers are also included in each terminal, and radiometer data are used both to set the absolute level of the beacon data and to predict path attenuation. Some results from the experiment set are presented.
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A Geographic Information System (GIS)-type analysis of archaeological site locations using a dBase III plus program and a desk top computer is presented. A previously developed model of site locations in the Sequatchie Valley of northeastern Alabama is tested against known site locations in another large survey area there. The model fails to account for site locations in the test area. A model is developed for the test area and indicates the site locations are indeed different. Whether this is due to differences in site locations on a sub-regional level, or to sample error in the original model is unknown.
The utilization of modest equipment and software revealed bottom contours and water column conditions of a dynamic water body. Classroom discussions of field techniques and equipment capabilities followed by exercises with the data sets in cause-and-effect analysis all contributed to participatory education in the process of science. This project is presented as a case study of the value of engaging secondary and collegiate level students in planning, executing and appraising a real world investigation which they can directly relate to. A 1 km wide bay, experiencing marsh inflow, along an 8 km long lake situated 120 km north of Ottawa, Canada, on the glaciated Canadian Precambrian Shield was mapped in midsummer for submerged topography, bottom composition, temperature profile, turbudity, dissolved oxygen and biota distribution. Low level aerial photographs scanned into image processing software are permitting spatial classification of bottom variations in biology and geology. Instrumentation consisted of a portable sport fishing SONAR depth finder, an electronic lead line multiprobe with photocell, thermistor and dissolved oxygen sensors, a selective depth water sampler, portable pH meter, an underwater camera mounted on a home-made platform with a bottom-contact trigger and a disposable underwater camera for shallow survey work. Sampling transects were referenced using a Brunton hand transit triangulating several shore markers.
This report addresses the Tropospheric Trace Gas and Airborne Measurements (TTGAMG) endeavors to further downsize and stabilize the Georgia Institute of Technology's Airborne Laser Induced Fluorescence Experiment (GITALIFE). It will mainly address the TTGAMG successes and failures as participants in the summer 1998 Wallops Island test flights on board the P3-B. Due to the restructuring and reorganization of the TTGAMG since the original funding of this grant, some of the objectives and time lines of the deliverables have been changed. Most of these changes have been covered in the preceding annual report. We are anticipating getting back on track with the original proposal's downsizing effort this summer, culminating in the GITALIFE no longer occupying a high bay rack and the loss of several hundred pounds.
After two years of design, component testing, and parts fabrication, the project team was within months of starting assembly on the first major elements of a new product assembly. Schedules were extremely tight and there was no room for error in the first unit build-up for test. The first draft of the assembly drawing was nearing completion and needed to be approved by key members of the Integrated Product Team (IPT) before release. Only then could the manufacturing planning be finalized and released for assembly to begin. What could we do to improve the quality of our first build effort? How could we minimize all the changes inherent in the first-time build of a complex mechanical system? Why not a dress rehearsal of the build process with all the participating players, hardware, and build documentation? A "virtual build simulation". In an organization employing integrated product teams there is no substitute for clear communication between the various cross-functional members. Despite team collocation, integrated solid modeling, and frequent coordination meetings. elements of the product-process design can still slip through the cracks and show up on the assembly floor. The virtual build exercise was designed to provide one intensive hands-on experience for all members of the design and assembly team in time to make corrections without schedule impact.
This people-based simulation is a game that can be used to rehearse complex first-time product assembly activities before the chips are down and the pressure is on to perform. Our experiences with this technique resulted in significantly improved manufacturing planning through better communication in an Integrated Product Team environment.
Automated aids and decision support tools are rapidly becoming indispensible tools in high-technology cockpits, and are assuming increasing control of "cognitive" flight tasks, such as calculating fuel-efficient routes, navigating, or detecting and diagnosing system malfunctions and abnormalities. This study was designed to investigate "automation bias," a recently documented factor in the use of automated aids and decision support systems. The term refers to omission and commission errors resulting from the use of automated cues as a heuristic replacement for vigilant information seeking and processing. Glass-cockpit pilots flew flight scenarios involving automation "events," or opportunities for automation-related omission and commission errors. Pilots who perceived themselves as "accountable" for their performance and strategies of interaction with the automation were more likely to double-check automated functioning against other cues, and less likely to commit errors. Pilots were also likely to erroneously "remember" the presence of expected cues when describing their decision-making processes.
Under an SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) contract with Ames, S.D. Miller & Associates developed new manufacturing methods for multi-layer metal spacecraft insulation that could significantly reduce launch weight and launch costs. The new honeycomb structure is more efficient than fibers for insulation. Honeycombs can be made from metals for high temperature uses, even plastic insulation from recycled milk bottles. Under development are blankets made from recycled milk bottles which will be field tested by the Red Cross and ambulance companies. Currently available are honeycomb mittens based on the same technology.
Dichroic Glass is a technology wherein extremely thin films of metal are vacuum deposited on a glass surface. The coated glass shields spacecraft instruments from cosmic radiation and protects human vision from unfiltered sunlight in space. Because the coating process allows some wavelengths of light and color to reflect and others to pass through, a chameleon effect is produced. Murray Schwartz, a former aerospace engineer, has based his business KROMA on this NASA optical technology. He produces dichroic stained glass windows, mobiles and jewelry. The technique involves deposition of super thin layers of metal oxides applied one layer at a time in a specific order and thickness for the desired effect. His product line is unique and has been very successful.
Remote sensing is the process of acquiring physical information from a distance, obtaining data on Earth features from a satellite or an airplane. Advanced remote sensing instruments detect radiations not visible to the ordinary camera or the human eye in several bands of the spectrum. These data are computer processed to produce multispectral images that can provide enormous amounts of information about Earth objects or phenomena. Since every object on Earth emits or reflects radiation in its own unique signature, remote sensing data can be interpreted to tell the difference between one type of vegetation and another, between densely populated urban areas and lightly populated farmland, between clear and polluted water or in the archeological application between rain forest and hidden man made structures.
"Elizabeth," a computerized beauty analysis system marketed by Elizabeth Arden, is based upon an ARAC data base search of technologies measuring skin profiles. * "Elizabeth" is no longer commercially available.
With the dearth of dedicated radiation hardened foundries, new and novel techniques are being developed for hardening designs using non-dedicated foundry services. In this paper, we will discuss the implications of validating these methods for the natural space radiation environment issues: total ionizing dose (TID) and single event effects (SEE). Topics of discussion include: Types of tests that are required, Design coverage (i.e., design libraries: do they need validating for each application?) A new task within NASA to compare existing design. This latter task is a new effort in FY03 utilizing a 8051 microcontroller core from multiple design hardening developers as a test vehicle to evaluate each mitigative technique.
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This presentation provides a brief overview of the research underway in the Cruise Efficiency -- Propulsion technical challenge area of NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Supersonics project. The research involves both computational and experimental efforts in the areas of Advanced Inlet Concepts, High Performance/Wide Operability Fan and Compressors, Advanced Nozzle Concepts and Intelligent Sensors/Actuators. The work consists of both internal NASA research and external efforts funded through the NASA Research Announcement process.
Topics covered include: Digital Phase Meter for a Laser Heterodyne Interferometer; Vision System Measures Motions of Robot and External Objects; Advanced Precipitation Radar Antenna to Measure Rainfall From Space; Wide-Band Radar for Measuring Thickness of Sea Ice; Vertical Isolation for Photodiodes in CMOS Imagers; Wide-Band Microwave Receivers Using Photonic Processing; L-Band Transmit/Receive Module for Phase-Stable Array Antennas; Microwave Power Combiner/Switch Utilizing a Faraday Rotator; Compact Low-Loss Planar Magic-T; Using Pipelined XNOR Logic to Reduce SEU Risks in State Machines; Quasi-Optical Transmission Line for 94-GHz Radar; Next Generation Flight Controller Trainer System; Converting from DDOR SASF to APF; Converting from CVF to AAF; Documenting AUTOGEN and APGEN Model Files; Sequence History Update Tool; Extraction and Analysis of Display Data; MRO DKF Post-Processing Tool; Rig Diagnostic Tools; MRO Sequence Checking Tool; Science Activity Planner for the MER Mission; UAVSAR Flight-Planning System; Templates for Deposition of Microscopic Pointed Structures; Adjustable Membrane Mirrors Incorporating G-Elastomers; Hall-Effect Thruster Utilizing Bismuth as Propellant; High-Temperature Crystal-Growth Cartridge Tubes Made by VPS; Quench Crucibles Reinforced with Metal; Deep-Sea Hydrothermal-Vent Sampler; Mars Rocket Propulsion System; Two-Stage Passive Vibration Isolator; Improved Thermal Design of a Compression Mold; Enhanced Pseudo-Waypoint Guidance for Spacecraft Maneuvers; Altimetry Using GPS-Reflection/Occultation Interferometry; Thermally Driven Josephson Effect; Perturbation Effects on a Supercritical C7H16/N2 Mixing Layer; Gold Nanoparticle Labels Amplify Ellipsometric Signals; Phase Matching of Diverse Modes in a WGM Resonator; WGM Resonators for Terahertz-to-Optical Frequency Conversion; Determining Concentration of Nanoparticles from Ellipsometry; Microwave-to-Optical Conversion in WGM Resonators; Four-Pass Coupler for Laser-Diode-Pumped Solid-State Laser; Low-Resolution Raman-Spectroscopy Combustion Thermometry; Temperature Sensors Based on WGM Optical Resonators; Varying the Divergence of Multiple Parallel Laser Beams; Efficient Algorithm for Rectangular Spiral Search; Algorithm-Based Fault Tolerance Integrated with Replication; Targeting and Localization for Mars Rover Operations; Terrain-Adaptive Navigation Architecture; Self-Adjusting Hash Tables for Embedded Flight Applications; Schema for Spacecraft-Command Dictionary; Combined GMSK Communications and PN Ranging; System-Level Integration of Mass Memory; Network-Attached Solid-State Recorder Architecture; Method of Cross-Linking Aerogels Using a One-Pot Reaction Scheme; An Efficient Reachability Analysis Algorithm.