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This paper elaborates on visually-coupled Wide Field of View Helmet Mounted Display (WFOVHMD) system technology as a viable visual presentation system for helicopter simulation. Critical research issues on helmet mounted displays are reviewed. Tradeoffs associated with this mode of presentation as well as research and training applications are discussed.
The Hot Section Technology (HOST) Project, which was initiated by NASA Lewis Research Center in 1980 and concluded in 1987, was aimed at improving advanced aircraft engine hot section durability through better technical understanding and more accurate design analysis capability. The project was a multidisciplinary, multiorganizational, focused research effort that involved 21 organizations and 70 research and technology activities and generated approximately 250 research reports. No major hardware was developed. To evaluate whether HOST had a significant impact on the overall aircraft engine industry in the development of new engines, interviews were conducted with 41 participants in the project to obtain their views. The summarized results of these interviews are presented.
The Hot Section Technology (HOST) Project, which was initiated by NASA Lewis Research Center in 1980 and concluded in 1987, was aimed at improving advanced aircraft engine hot section durability through better technical understanding and more accurate design analysis capability. The project was a multidisciplinary, multiorganizational, focused research effort that involved 21 organizations and 70 research and technology activities and generated approximately 250 research reports. No major hardware was developed. To evaluate whether HOST had a significant impact on the overall aircraft engine industry in the development of new engines, interviews were conducted with 41 participants in the project to obtain their views. The summarized results of these interviews are presented. Emphasis is placed on results relative to three-dimensional inelastic structural analysis, thermomechanical fatigue testing, constitutive modeling, combustor aerothermal modeling, turbine heat transfer, protective coatings, computer codes, improved engine design capability, reduced engine development costs, and the impacts on technology transfer and the industry-government partnership.
The effect of the viewing zenith angle (VZA) on the cloudiness values observed by a satellite was investigated using a combination of two cloud-amount data sets derived from nearly simultaneous collocated GOES-E and GOES-W radiance measurements over the Pacific Ocean during May 1979 and July 1983. A hybrid bispectral threshold method was used to analyze data for single-layer and total cloudiness. It was found that the cloud fraction values increased with increasing VZA for almost all cases. Low clouds exhibited the greatest increases with a VZA increase for cloud amounts in the 0.1 range, whereas high clouds showed greatest increases for cloud amounts around 0.5. Midlevel clouds showed only a slight dependence on VZA. Total cloudiness increased the most, reflecting its predominantly low-cloud composition.
This paper provides a personal view of computational fluid dynamics. The main theme is divided into two categories - one dealing with algorithms and engineering applications and the other with scientific investigations. The former category may be termed computational aerodynamics, with the objective of providing reliable aerodynamic or engineering predictions. The latter category is essentially basic research, where the algorithmic tools are used to unravel and elucidate fluid-dynamic phenomena hard to obtain in a laboratory. A critique of the numerical solution techniques for both compressible and incompressible flows is included. The discussion on scientific investigations deals in particular with transition and turbulence.
Improved potassium dideuterium phosphate (KD2PO4) electro-optical linear-polarization modulator suitable for use with optical instruments having large (wide-angle) fields of view. Errors previously caused by convergence of light eliminated.
The depolarizing and occultation effects of a finite spherical light source on the polarization of light Thomson-scattered from a flat circumstellar envelope seen edge-on are analyzed. The analysis shows that neglect of the finite size of the light source leads to a gross overestimate of the polarization for a given disk geometry. By including occultation and depolarization, it is found that B-star envelopes are necessarily highly flattened disk-type structures. For a disk viewed edge-on, the effect of occultation reduces the polarization more than the inclusion of the depolarization factor alone. Analysis of a one-dimensional plume leads to a powerful technique that permits the electron density distribution to be explicitly obtained from the polarimetric data.
Coaxial-view torch for gas/tungsten arc welding has only two-thirds length and width of its predecessor. Shape and size similar to that of commercial arc-welding torch (Linde HW-27 or equivalent), even though it contains lens system. Collet that holds electrode has unique design allowing greater passage of light. Used in small spaces previously inaccessible, also introduced into production welding operations with minimum of disturbance.
The archived Earth radiation budget (ERB) products produced from the Nimbus-7 ERB narrow field-of-view scanner are described. The principal products are broadband outgoing longwave radiation (4.5 to 50 microns), reflected solar radiation (0.2 to 4.8 microns), and the net radiation. Daily and monthly averages are presented on a fixed global equal area (500 sq km), grid for the period May 1979 to May 1980. Two independent algorithms are used to estimate the outgoing fluxes from the observed radiances. The algorithms are described and the results compared. The products are divided into three subsets: the Scene Radiance Tapes (SRT) contain the calibrated radiances; the Sorting into Angular Bins (SAB) tape contains the SAB produced shortwave, longwave, and net radiation products; and the Maximum Likelihood Cloud Estimation (MLCE) tapes contain the MLCE products. The tape formats are described in detail.
A theory to determine the properties of a fluid from measurements of its projections was developed and tested. Viewing cones as small as 10 degrees were evaluated, with the only assumption being that the property was space limited. The results of applying the theory to numerical and actual interferograms of a spherical discontinuity of refractive index are presented. The theory was developed to test the practicality and limits of using three-dimensional computer tomography in internal fluid dynamics.
A new method is described for determining which stars in a navigation star catalog are near a star sensor field of view (FOV). This method assumes that an estimate of spacecraft inertial attitude is known. Vector component ranges for the star sensor FOV are computed, so that stars whose vector components lie within these ranges are near the star sensor FOV. This method requires no presorting of the navigation star catalog, and is more efficient than tradition methods.
The Distributed Access View Integrated Database (DAVID) System, which was adopted by the Astrophysics Division for their Astrophysics Data System, is a solution to the system heterogeneity problem. The heterogeneous components of the Astrophysics problem is outlined. The Library and Library Consortium levels of the DAVID approach are described. The 'books' and 'kits' level is discussed. The Universal Object Typer Management System level is described. The relation of the DAVID project with the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program is explained.
The following subject areas are covered: Earth view - a guide to orbital remote sensing; current orbital remote sensing systems (LANDSAT, SPOT image, MOS-1, Soviet remote sensing systems); remote sensing satellite; and remote sensing organizations.
While widely accepted today, the use of non-Earth resources in official space planning circles has been long in coming. Popular and governmental acceptance of using extraterrestrial resources, be they asteroids, comets, or other celestial bodies are highlighted. Particular emphasis is placed on those individuals, such as the late Dandridge Cole, who pioneered early discussion and thought on the topic over a period of several decades. The evolution of using extraterrestrial resources in governmental space policy, such as NASA's Outlook for Space (1976) and Pioneering the Space Frontier (1986) is reviewed. Put forward is the view that a redefinition of resources of near-Earth space may be warranted, particularly in consideration of using high vacuum, solar radiation, and magnetospheric phenomenon for experimentation and application purposes. Lastly, a prospective look at public reaction to utilizing space resources is presented.
The results of a constrained, wide field-of-view radiometer measurement deconvolution are presented and compared against higher resolution results obtained from the Earth Radiation Budget instrument on the Nimbus-7 satellite and from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment. The method is applicable to both longwave and shortwave observations and is specifically designed to treat the problem of anisotropic reflection and emission at the top of the atmosphere as well as low signal-to-noise ratios that arise regionally within a field. The procedure is reviewed, and the improvements in resolution obtained are examined. Some minor improvements in the albedo algorithm are also described.
This paper describes a ground-based data-evaluation workstation named Quick View System-2 (QVS2) developed to support postflight evaluation of data supplied by the Multispectral Atmospheric Mapping Sensor (MAMS), one of the four spectrometers that can be used with the Daedalus scanner flown on the ER-2 aircraft. The QVS2 provides advanced analysis capabilities and can be applied to other airborne scanners used throughout NASA for earth-system-science investigations, because of the commonality in the data stream and in the generalized data structure.
Results of theoretical analysis conducted to determine fields of view and irradiation patterns of collimator tubes of various shapes indicates, while background flux incident on surface at outlet of tube determined by ratio between diameter and length, shape of tube important in screening out background radiation.
A system for real-time video image display for robotics or remote-vehicle teleoperation is described that has at least one robot arm or remotely operated vehicle controlled by an operator through hand-controllers, and one or more television cameras and optional lighting element. The system has at least one television monitor for display of a television image from a selected camera and the ability to select one of the cameras for image display. Graphics are generated with icons of cameras and lighting elements for display surrounding the television image to provide the operator information on: the location and orientation of each camera and lighting element; the region of illumination of each lighting element; the viewed region and range of focus of each camera; which camera is currently selected for image display for each monitor; and when the controller coordinate for said robot arms or remotely operated vehicles have been transformed to correspond to coordinates of a selected or nonselected camera.