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The contributions which universities can make to aeronautical research projects are discussed. The activities of several facilities are presented to show the effectiveness of the educational and research programs. Reference is made to the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970 which permits an exchange of federal agency personnel with state and local governments and with public and private higher education schools.
The development of a course of study is briefly examined from two points of view. The first represents the background that would seem to be needed for a fledgling engineer upon his entry into the engineering profession and would allow him to complete successfully his on-the-job training, or engineering internship as it were. The second represents that which must be provided on the basis of the students background from secondary school. It is suggested that a course of study viewed in this way is never fixed, but rather evolves continuously. A particular evolving course of study is briefly discussed.
The cost of alternative communications networks for the dissemination of PLATO IV computer-aided instruction (CAI) was studied. Four communication techniques are compared: leased telephone lines, satellite communication, UHF TV, and low-power microwave radio. For each network design, costs per student contact hour are computed. These costs are derived as functions of student population density, a parameter which can be calculated from census data for one potential market for CAI, the public primary and secondary schools. Calculating costs in this way allows one to determine which of the four communications alternatives can serve this market least expensively for any given area in the U.S. The analysis indicates that radio distribution techniques are cost optimum over a wide range of conditions.
The results of a study of the application of a modular integrated utility system to six typical building types are compared with the application of a conventional utility system to the same facilities. The effects of varying the size and climatic location of the buildings and the size of the powerplants are presented. Construction details of the six building types (garden apartments, a high rise office building, high rise apartments, a shopping center, a high school, and a hospital) and typical site and floor plans are provided. The environmental effects, the unit size determination, and the market potential are discussed. The cost effectiveness of the various design options is not considered.
A symposium dealing with career opportunities in the aerospace program for minorities was conducted and evaluated. The symposium was attended by students from eleven predominantly minority colleges and universities in and around Washington, D. C. and the eastern region, and from high schools in five jurisdictions of the Washington metropolitan area. Speakers included representatives of Howard University, NASA, and private industry. On display during the symposium was a NASA exhibit of moon rocks, space shuttles, a lunar module, command module, pacemaker, LANDSAT, and other items of interest.
The Environmental Research Institute of Michigan is conducting a program whose goal is the large-scale adoption, by both public agencies and private interests in Michigan, of NASA earth-resource survey technology as an important aid in the solution of current problems in resource management and environmental protection. During the period from June 1975 to June 1976, remote sensing techniques to aid Michigan government agencies were used to achieve the following major results: (1) supply justification for public acquisition of land to establish the St. John's Marshland Recreation Area; (2) recommend economical and effective methods for performing a statewide wetlands survey; (3) assist in the enforcement of state laws relating to sand and gravel mining, soil erosion and sedimentation, and shorelands protection; (4) accomplish a variety of regional resource management actions in the East Central Michigan Planning and Development Region. Other tasks on which remote sensing technology was used include industrial and school site selection, ice detachment in the Soo Harbor, grave detection, and data presentation for wastewater management programs.
Topics related to architectural and institutional considerations are discussed along with studies of components and subsystems. Subjects in the area of system design and analysis are also explored. Residential and commercial applications are considered, taking into account hot-water usage in a typical single-family residence, solar heating and cooling of mobile homes, aspects of design and performance in the case of a solar heating system using a reflective pyramid optical condenser, solar heating in a Boston school, a performance analysis of solar service hot water systems, comparative performance analyses of three solar heated and cooled buildings, and the use of solar energy in a soybeam processing operation. Applications related to power generation are also examined, giving attention to solar thermal electric power systems and photovoltaic research. Individual items are announced in this issue.
This paper describes a new, portable, battery powered echocardioscope developed at the NASA-Ames Research Center in cooperation with the Stanford University School of Medicine. This instrument has three major advantages over existing equipment. First, it is compact and light weight for easy portability. Second, its DC operation makes it safer to use in remote settings where AC power is unavailable or in intensive care and neonatal units where AC instruments could present electrical hazards for the patient. Third, its design and packaging should enable it to sell for several thousand dollars less than presently marketed ultrasonoscopes. The cooperative development of this instrument, its principles of operation, and the significance of its unique features are presented.
The major efforts of the Stanford Biomedical Applications Team Program at the Stanford University School of Medicine for the period from October 1, 1975 to September 31, 1976 are covered. A completed EMG biotelemetry system which monitors the physiological signals of man and animals in space related research is discussed. The results of a pilot study involving lower body negative pressure testing in cardiac patients has been completed as well as the design and construction of a new leg negative pressure unit for evaluating heart patients. This technology utilizes vacuum chambers to stress the cardiovascular system during space flight. Laboratory tests of an intracranial pressure transducer, have been conducted. Extremely stable long term data using capacative pressure sensors has lead to the order of commercially manufactured monitoring systems base. Projects involving commercialization are: flexible medical electrodes, an echocardioscope, a miniature biotelemetry system, and an on-line ventricular contour detector.
The author has identified the following significant results. A graph that shows the snow water equivalent data during the 1975-76 winter season for the Ninemile and Michaud Farms snow pillows located in northern Maine is shown. The Bournes transducers used in the snow pillow interface were tested after field use under controlled laboratory conditions of temperature and pressure. It was found that the temperature calibration curve for the Bournes transducers became erratic below 0 C. On 8-10 August 1976, the remainder of hurricane, Belle, travelled through Vermont, New Hampshire, northern Maine, and on into Canada's Maritime Provinces dumping three inches of rain in many areas. In Canada and Maine, local storms dropped up to two inches during the following week. The Saint John River reached near flood stages at Fort Kent, Maine. During this storm, DCP data were received from Fort Kent, Ninemile Bridge, and Saint Francis River in New Brunswick. Resulting high runoff after these storms was studied in connection with the proposed Dickey-Lincoln School dams to be built in that area, and significantly, it was found that creditable flood hydrographs could be generated from LANDSAT DCP data in spite of the voids caused by the satellite being below the horizon.
This single-topic brochure is for high school physical science teachers to use in introducing students to extragalactic astronomy. The material is presented in three parts: the fundamental content of extragalactic astronomy; modern discoveries delineated in greater detail; and a summary of the earlier discussions within the structure of the Big-Bang Theory of evolution. Each of the three sections is followed by student exercises (activities, laboratory projects, and questions-and-answers). The unit close with a glossary which explains unfamilar terms used in the text and a collection of teacher aids (literature references and audiovisual materials for utilization in further study).
A unit is presented for the secondary school teacher of physics, chemistry, astronomy, or earth sciences. Included are a list of reference materials, teaching aids, and projects. Discussion questions and a glossary are also provided. Concepts developed are: the nature of interstellar space, spectroscopy, molecular signals from space and interstellar molecules and other areas of astronomy.
New Mexico State University and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration hosted a symposium to promote NASA's efforts to increase the available pool of minority and women scientists and engineers to meet affirmative hiring goals. The conferences also provided an opportunity for key NASA officials to meet with appropriate officials of participating institutions to stimulate greater academic interest (among professors and students) in NASA's research and development programs. Minority aerospace scientists and engineers had opportunity to interact with the minority community, particulary with young people at the junior high, high school, and college levels. One aim was to raise minority community's level of understanding regarding NASA's Regional Distribution System for storage and retrieval of scientific and technical information.
A conference was held in which minority aerospace scientists and engineers interacted with the minority community, particularly at the junior high, high school, and college levels. There were two presentations in the biological sciences, two in the physical and environmental sciences, seven in engineering and computer sciences, and nine in aerospace science and engineering. Aerospace technology careers and aerospace activities were discussed as to how they are relevant to minorities and women.
Data on the NASA-University relationship are reported that encompass research in over 600 schools through several thousand grants and contracts. This user-driven system is capable of producing a variety of cyclical and query-type reports describing the total NASA-University profile. The capabilities, designed as part of the system, require a minimum of user maintenance in order to ensure system efficiency and data validity to meet the recurrent Statutory and Executive Branch information requirements as well as ad hoc inquiries from NASA general management, Congress, other Federal agencies, private sector organizations, universities and individuals. The data base contains information on each university, the individual projects and the financial details, current and historic, on all contracts and grants. Complete details are given on the system from its unique design features to the actual steps required for daily operation.
The outdoor/indoor noise levels and associated vibration levels resulting from aircraft and nonaircraft events were recorded at eight homesites and a school. In addition, limited subjective tests were conducted to examine the human detection/annoyance thresholds for building vibration and rattle caused by aircraft noise. Presented herein are the majority of the window and wall vibration data recorded during Concorde and subsonic aircraft overflights.
The design, installation, performance, and application of a solar hot air heater for residential, commercial and industrial use is reported. The system has been installed at the Concho Indian School in El Reno, Oklahoma.
Outdoor and indoor noise levels resulting from aircraft flyovers and certain nonaircraft events were recorded at eight homesites and a school along with the associated vibration levels in the walls, windows, and floors at these test sites. Limited subjective tests were conducted to examine the human detection and annoyance thresholds for building vibration and rattle caused by aircraft noise. Both vibration and rattle were detected subjectively in several houses for some operations of both the Concorde and subsonic aircraft. Seated subjects more readily detected floor vibrations than wall or window vibrations. Aircraft noise generally caused more window vibrations than common nonaircraft events such as walking and closing doors. Nonaircraft events and aircraft flyovers resulted in comparable wall vibration levels, while floor vibrations were generally greater for nonaircraft events than for aircraft flyovers. The relationship between structural vibration and aircraft noise is linear, with vibration levels being accurately predicted from overall sound pressure levels (OASPL) measured near the structure. Relatively high levels of structural vibration measured during Concorde operations are due more to higher OASPL levels than to unique Concorde-source characteristics.