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The survey paper deals with the major activities, during the past four years, within the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP), written for the Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE). Emphasis is on the participation of the United States, but in the context of the international effort as a whole. The activities are outlined according to the subprograms recognized by the international Joint Organization Committee for GARP.
Plant biologist David Weston is one of this year's U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Research Program award recipients. With this award, he will identify the genes and metabolic functions involved in the exchange of nutrients between certain plants and microbes and study their response to environmental changes in both laboratory and field settings. Deeper fundamental understanding of the symbiotic plant-microbe relationship could reveal pathways to improve bioenergy crop production in nutrient-limiting environments.
Since its inception, one of NASA's commitments has been to develop the technology to advance aeronautics. As such, a new High-Speed Research Program was activated to develop the technology for industry to build a High-Speed Civil Transport - a second generation Supersonic Transport (SST). The baseline for this program is the British Concorde, a major technological achievement for its time, but an aircraft which is now both technologically and economically outdated. Therefore, a second generation SST must satisfy environmental concerns and still be economically viable. In order to do this, it must have no significant effect on the ozone layer, meet Federal Air Regulation 36, Stage 3 for community noise, and have no perceptible sonic boom over populated areas. These three concerns are the focus of the research efforts in Phase 1 of the program and are the specific areas covered in the technical video report.
This document defines the processes, criteria, and guidelines exclusive to managing the Human Research Program (HRP). The intent of this document is to provide instruction to the reader in the form of processes, criteria, and guidelines. Of the three instructional categories, processes contain the most detail because of the need for a systematic series of actions directed to some end. In contrast, criteria have lesser detail than processes with the idea of creating a rule or principle structure for evaluating or testing something. Guidelines are a higher level indication of a course of action typically with the least amount of detail. The lack of detail in guidelines allows the reader flexibility when performing an action or actions.
Heavy-ion collisions provide a unique opportunity to investigate the fundamental laws of physics of the strong force. The extreme conditions created by the collisions within a finite volume are akin to the properties of the deconfined partonic state which existed very shortly after the Big Bang and just prior to visible matter formation in the Universe. In this state massless quarks and gluons (partons) are ``quasi free" particles, the so-called Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). By following the expansion and cooling of this state, we will map out the process of nucleonic matter formation, which occurs during the phase transition. The fundamental properties of this early partonic phase of matter are not well understood, but they are essential for confirming QCD (Quantum Chromo-Dynamics) and the Standard Model. The specific topic, chiral symmetry restoration, has been called ``the remaining puzzle of QCD.'' This puzzle can only be studied in the dense partonic medium generated in heavy-ion collisions. The research objectives of this proposal are the development and application of new analysis strategies to study chirality and the properties of the medium above the QGP phase transition using hadronic resonances detected with the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN research laboratory in Switzerland. This grant funded a new effort at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) to investigate the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) at the highest possible energy of 2.76 TeV per nucleon at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN via the ALICE experiment. The findings added to our knowledge of the dynamical evolution and the properties of the hot, dense matter produced in heavy-ion collisions, and provided a deeper understanding of multi-hadron interactions in these extreme nuclear matter systems. Our group contributed as well to the hardware and software for the ALICE USA-funded Calorimeter Detector (EMCal). The LHC research program and its connection to fundamental questions in high energy, nuclear and astrophysics has triggered the imagination of many young students worldwide. The studies also promoted the early involvement of students and young postdocs in a large, multi-national research effort abroad, which provided them with substantial experience and skills prior to choosing their career path. The undergraduate program, in conjunction with the Freshman Research Initiative at UT Austin, allowed the students to complete a research project within the field of Nuclear Physics.
A new Vision for Space Exploration was announced earlier this year by U.S. President George W. Bush. NASA has evaluated on-going programs for strategic alignment with this vision. The evaluation proceeded at a rapid pace and is resulting in changes to the scope and focus of experimental research that will be conducted in support of the new vision. The existing network of researchers in the physical sciences - a highly capable, independent, and loosely knitted community - typically have shared conclusions derived from their work within appropriate discipline-specific peer reviewed journals and publications. The initial result of introducing this Vision for Space Exploration has been to shift research focus from a broad coverage of numerous, widely varying topics into a research program focused on a nearly-singular set of supporting research objectives to enable advances in space exploration. Two of these traditional physical science research disciplines, Combustion Science and Fluid Physics, are implementing a course adjustment from a portfolio dominated by "Fundamental Science Research" to one focused nearly exclusively on supporting the Exploration Vision. Underlying scientific and engineering competencies and infrastructure of the Microgravity Combustion Science and Fluid Physics disciplines do provide essential research capabilities to support the contemporary thrusts of human life support, radiation countermeasures, human health, low gravity research for propulsion and materials and, ultimately, research conducted on the Moon and Mars. A perspective on how these two research disciplines responded to the course change will be presented. The relevance to the new NASA direction is provided, while demonstrating through two examples how the prior investment in fundamental research is being brought to bear on solving the issues confronting the successful implementation of the exploration goals.
The X-29A aircraft is a fascinating combination of integrated technologies incorporated into a unique research aircraft. The X-29A program is multiple agency program with management and other responsibilities divided among NASA, DARPA, the U.S. Air Force, and the Grumman Corporation. An overview of the recently completed X-29A flight research program, objectives achieved, and a discussion of its future is presented. Also discussed are the flight test approach expanding the envelope, typical flight maneuvers performed, X-29A program accomplishments, lessons learned for the Number One aircraft, and future plans with the Number Two aircraft. A schedule for both aircraft is presented. A description of the unique technologies incorporated into the X-29A aircraft is given, along with descriptions of the onboard instrumentation system. The X-29A aircraft research program has proven highly successful. Using high fly rates from a very reliable experimental aircraft, the program has consistently met or exceeded its design and research goals.
The X-29A aircraft is a fascinating combination of integrated technologies incorporated into a unique research aircraft. The X-29A program is a multiple agency program with management and other responsibilities divided among NASA, DARPA, the U.S. Air Force, and the Grumman Corporation. An overview of the recently completed X-29A flight research program, objectives achieved, and a discussion of its future is presented. Also discussed are the flight test approach expanding the envelope, typical flight maneuvers performed, X-29A program accomplishments, lessons learned for the Number One aircraft, and future plans with the Number Two aircraft. A schedule for both aircraft is presented. A description of the unique technologies incorporated into the X-29A aircraft is given, along with descriptions of the onboard instrumentation system. The X-29A aircraft research program has proven highly successful. Using high fly rates from a very reliable experimental aircraft, the program has consistently met or exceeded its design and research goals.
A summary of the scientific NASA grants and achievements accomplished by the University of California, Los Angles, is presented. The development of planetary and space sciences as a major curriculum of the University, and statistical data on graduate programs in aerospace sciences are discussed. An interdisciplinary approach to aerospace science education is emphasized. Various research programs and scientific publications that are a direct result of NASA grants are listed.
Studies have indicated that, with sufficient technology development, future high-speed civil transport aircraft could be economically competitive with long-haul subsonic aircraft. However, uncertainty about atmospheric pollution, along with community noise and sonic boom, continues to be a major concern which is being addressed in the planned six-year High-Speed Research Program begun in 1990. Building on NASA's research in atmospheric science and emissions reduction, current analytical predictions indicate that an operating range may exist at altitudes below 20 km (i.e., corresponding to a cruise Mach number of approximately 2.4) where the goal level of 5 gm equivalent NO2 emissions/kg fuel will deplete less than one percent of column ozone. Because it will not be possible to directly measure the impact of an aircraft fleet on the atmosphere, the only means of assessment will be prediction. The process of establishing credibility for the predicted effects will likely be complex and involve continued model development and testing against climatological patterns. In particular, laboratory simulation of heterogeneous chemistry and other effects, and direct measurements of well understood tracers in the troposphere and stratosphere are being used to improve the current models.
At the request of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) convened the Committee on the Review of NASA Human Research Program's (HRP's) Scientific Merit Assessment Processes in December 2011. The committee was asked to evaluate the scientific merit assessment processes that are applied to directed research tasks2 funded through the HRP and to determine best practices from similar assessment processes that are used in other federal agencies. This letter report and its recommendations are the product of a 10-member ad hoc committee, which included individuals who had previously conducted research under the HRP, were familiar with the HRP s research portfolio and operations, had specific knowledge of peer review processes, or were familiar with scientific merit assessment processes used in other organizations and federal agencies, such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); National Institutes of Health (NIH); National Science Foundation (NSF); and U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Defense (DOD), and Transportation.
The Scene Radiation and Atmospheric Effects Characterization (SRAEC) Project was established within the NASA Fundamental Remote Sensing Science Research Program to improve our understanding of the fundamental relationships of energy interactions between the sensor and the surface target, including the effect of the atmosphere. The current studies are generalized into the following five subject areas: optical scene modeling, Earth-space radiative transfer, electromagnetic properties of surface materials, microwave scene modeling, and scatterometry studies. This report has been prepared to provide a brief overview of the SRAEC Project history and objectives and to report on the scientific findings and project accomplishments made by the nineteen principal investigators since the project's initiation just over three years ago. This annual summary report derives from the most recent annual principal investigators meeting held January 29 to 31, 1985.
This document is a draft of an environmental impact statement, evaluating the effect on the environment of the use of sounding rockets, balloons and air borne research programs in studying the atmosphere.
Advanced high-speed propellers offer large performance improvements for aircraft that cruise in the Mach 0.7 to 0.8 speed regime. The current status of the NASA research program on high-speed propeller aerodynamics, acoustics, and aeroelastics is described. Recent wind tunnel results for five 8- to 10-blade advanced models are compared with analytical predictions. Test results show that blade sweep was important in achieving net efficiencies near 80 percent at Mach 0.8 and reducing near-field cruise noise by dB. Lifting line and lifting surface aerodynamic analysis codes are under development and some initial lifting line results are compared with propeller force and probe data. Some initial laser velocimeter measurements of the flow field velocities of an 8-bladed 45 deg swept propeller are shown. Experimental aeroelastic results indicate that cascade effects and blade sweep strongly affect propeller aeroelastic characteristics. Comparisons of propeller near-field noise data with linear acoustic theory indicate that the theory adequate predicts near-field noise for subsonic tip speeds but overpredicts the noise for supersonic tip speeds. Potential large gains in propeller efficiency of 7 to 11 percent at Mach 0.8 may be possible with advanced counter-rotation propellers.
This viewgraph presentation describes the various flight investigations performed on the International Space Station as part of the NASA Human Research Program (HRP). The evaluations include: 1) Stability; 2) Periodic Fitness Evaluation with Oxygen Uptake Measurement; 3) Nutrition; 4) CCISS; 5) Sleep; 6) Braslet; 7) Integrated Immune; 8) Epstein Barr; 9) Biophosphonates; 10) Integrated cardiovascular; and 11) VO2 max.
This report is an index of the published works from NASA Grant NSG 1301, entitled A Research Program to Reduce the Interior Noise in General Aviation Aircraft. Included are a list of all published reports and papers, a compilation of test specimen characteristics, and summaries of each published work.
The goal of HRP is to provide human health and performance countermeasures, knowledge, technologies, and tools to enable safe, reliable, and productive human space exploration. The Human Research Program was designed to meet the needs of human space exploration, and understand and reduce the risk to crew health and performance in exploration missions.
Program on organization and management of research and development - Problem solving strategies in parallel research and development projects