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Gas-Grain Simulation Facility: Fundamental studies of particle formation and interactions. Volume 1: Executive summary and overview

An overview of the Gas-Grain Simulation Facility (GGSF) project and its current status is provided. The proceedings of the Gas-Grain Simulation Facility Experiments Workshop are recorded. The goal of the workshop was to define experiments for the GGSF--a small particle microgravity research facility. The workshop addressed the opportunity for performing, in Earth orbit, a wide variety of experiments that involve single small particles (grains) or clouds of particles. The first volume includes the executive summary, overview, scientific justification, history, and planned development of the Facility.

Fogleman, Guy

Executive overview and introduction to the SMAP information system life-cycle and documentation standards

An overview of the five volume set of Information System Life-Cycle and Documentation Standards is provided with information on its use. The overview covers description, objectives, key definitions, structure and application of the standards, and document structure decisions. These standards were created to provide consistent NASA-wide structures for coordinating, controlling, and documenting the engineering of an information system (hardware, software, and operational procedures components) phase by phase.

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NASA CSI suspension methods overview

New suspension techniques will be necesary for ground testing the flexible spacecraft anticipated in NASA's future space activity. The most complex spacecraft involve nonlinear maneuvering (i.e., large angle slewing) with articulating substructures such as remote manipulating systems. The NASA control-structure interaction (CSI) ground test method team has begun researching and developing methodology to suspend the future class of spacecraft. This overview describes the work completed thus far. The research objective and technical approach will be presented first. Second, will be a suspension device overview followed by an assessment of existing hardware. Two different mechanical zero-spring-rate mechanisms will be compared for optimal performance. Next, will be a description of how existing hardware can be evolved to meet more general suspension requirements. A comparison of suspending articulating structures overhead vs underneath will follow. After a few experimental results from the zero-spring-rate mechanism/air suspension cart will be concluding remarks and future work.

Woodard, Stanley E.

Historical overview of the Biosphere 2 project

An extensive historical overview is given of the Biosphere 2 project. The overview begins in late 1969, as the moon landings commenced, when work began on ecological projects which laid the conceptual foundation for the current Biosphere 2 project. Continuing through to taking a complete functional suite of microbes together with their associated aquatic elements and an air volume and putting them inside a closed lab flask in which to measure the oxygen and CO2 levels, study energy flows and visually observe the changes therein. The laws of biospherics formulated by the author which can be tested in the Biosphere 2 project are listed.

Allen, John P.

Hubble Space Telescope overview

A general overview of the performance and current status of the Hubble Space Telescope is presented. Most key spacecraft subsystems are operating well, equaling or exceeding specifications. Spacecraft thermal properties, power, and communications, are superb. The only spacecraft subsystem to have failed, a gyro, is briefly discussed. All science instruments are functioning extremely well and are returning valuable scientific data. The two significant problems effecting the Hubble Space Telescope science return, the pointing jitter produced by thermally induced bending of the solar array wings and the optical telescope assembly spherical aberration, are discussed and plans to repair both problems are mentioned. The possible restoration of full optical performance of the axial scientific instruments through the use of the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, currently under study for the 1993 servicing mission, is discussed. In addition, an overview of the scientific performance of the Hubble Space Telescope is presented.

Polidan, Ronald S.

Overview of magnetic suspension research at Langley Research Center

An overview of research in small- and large-gap magnetic suspension systems at LaRC is presented. The overview is limited to systems which have been built as laboratory models or engineering models. Small-gap systems applications include the Annular Momentum Control Device (AMCD), which is a momentum storage device for the stabilization and control of spacecraft, and the Annular Suspension and Pointing System (ASPS), which is a general purpose pointing mount designed to provide orientation, mechanical isolation, and fine pointing space experiments. These devices are described and control and linearization approaches for the magnetic suspension systems for these devices are discussed. Large-gap systems applications at LaRC have been almost exclusively wind tunnel magnetic suspension systems. A brief description of these efforts is also presented.

Groom, Nelson J.

System overview of the NASA Dryden Integrated Test Facility

The Integrated Test Facility, built at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, provides new real-time test capabilities for emerging research aircraft. An overview of the test facility and the real-time systems developed to operate this unique facility is presented. The facility will reduce flight test risk by minimizing the difference between the flight and ground test environments. This ground test environment is provided by combining real-time flight simulation with the actual aircraft. A brief introduction to the facility is followed by a discussion of the generic capabilities of its real-time systems. The simulation system with flight hardware and the remotely augmented vehicle system is described. An overview of many hardware systems developed for the facility follows. The benefits of applying simulation to hardware-in-the-loop testing on the X-31 Flight Research Program are presented.

Binkley, Robert L.

First lunar outpost: Mission overview

Information is given in viewgraph form on the First Lunar Outpost. Topics covered include the program strategy, a mission overview, and evolution options. It is noted in the mission overview that each flight to the moon requires a single launch, greatly simplifying the operations that would be required in a multiple launch scenario. A one-way cargo mission will precede the arrival of the first crew. The crew will perform both extravehicular activity and intra-vehicular activity in the areas of surface exploration and science activities. After the mission is complete, the crew will return to earth.

Joosten, Kent

Overview of environmental test plans for Space Station Freedom work package 4

The generation and distribution of electric power for Space Station Freedom (SSF) is critical to the station's success. Work Package 4 (WP-04) has the responsibility for the design, development, test, and delivery of the Electric Power System (EPS) for the SSF. During launch, assembly, and operation, the EPS will be subjected to various environments. A test and verification approach has been developed to assure that the EPS will function in these environments. An overview of that test program is presented with emphasis on environmental testing of hardware. Two key areas of the test program are highlighted in the overview. One area is the verification of the Solar Power Module (SPM) and associated cargo element hardware. This area includes detailing the plans for development and qualification testing of the SPM hardware. One series of tests, including modal and acoustic, has been completed on a development cargo element. Another area highlighted is the acceptance testing of high-power Orbital Replacement Units (ORU). The environmental test equipment plans are presented and reviewed in light of an aggressive production rate, which delivers ORU's to the WP-04 and other Space Station Work Packages. Through implementing the test program as outlined, the EPS hardware will be certified for flight and operation on the Space Station Freedom.

Peterson, Tom J.

The JGOFS North Atlantic Bloom Experiment: An overview

The North Atlantic Bloom Experiment (NABE) of JGOFS presents a unique opportunity and challenge to the data management community because of the diversity and large size of biogeochemical data sets collected. NABE was a pilot study for JGOFS and has also served as a pilot study within the U.S. NODC for management and archiving of the data sets. Here I present an overview to some of the scientific results of NABE, which will be published as an Introduction to a special volume of NABE results in Deep-Sea Research later this year. An overview of NABE data management is given elsewhere in the present report. This is the first collection of papers from the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS). Formed as an international program in 1987, JGOFS has four principal elements: modelling and data management, multidisciplinary regional process studies, a global survey of biogeochemical properties and long-term time series observatories. In 1989-1990 JGOFS conducted a pilot process study of the spring phytoplankton bloom, the North Atlantic Bloom Experiment (NABE). JGOFS decided to conduct a large scale, internationally-coordinated pilot study in the North Atlantic because of its proximity to the founding nations of the project, the size and predictability of the bloom and its fundamental impact on ocean bio-geochemistry (Billett et al., 1983; Watson and Whitfield, 1985; Pfannkuche, 1992). In 1989, six research vessels from Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA and over 200 scientists and students from more than a dozen nations participated in NABE. Some of their initial results are reported in this volume.

Ducklow, Hugh W.

Technology for Space Station Evolution. Executive summary and overview

NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) conducted a workshop on technology for space station evolution 16-19 Jan. 1990. The purpose of this workshop was to collect and clarify Space Station Freedom technology requirements for evolution and to describe technologies that can potentially fill those requirements. These proceedings are organized into an Executive Summary and Overview and five volumes containing the technology discipline presentations. The Executive Summary and Overview contains an executive summary for the workshop, the technology discipline summary packages, and the keynote address. The executive summary provides a synopsis of the events and results of the workshop and the technology discipline summary packages.

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An overview of the text propagation effects for land-mobile-satellite systems: Experimental and modeling results

We present an overview of the contents of the text having the above title and which is now in the form of a preliminary document titled, 'Propagation Handbook for Land-Mobile-Satellite Systems-Preliminary.' At this writing the text is undergoing peer review, and the final revised manuscript will be published in the near future as a NASA document. The text was inspired by a series of Land-Mobile-Satellite System (LMSS) experiments by the authors and other investigators at UHF and L-Band. The rationale for its writing is to place in a single document an overview of the previous propagation related salient experimental and modeling results pertaining to LMSS scenarios. It is apparent that LMSS propagation at UHF and L-Band can be seriously degraded because of attenuation (e.g., greater than 10 dB) caused by roadside tree shadowing. The extent of attenuation is shown to depend on such factors at the elevation angle to the satellite, the bearing of the line-of-signt path to the satellite relative to the line of roadside trees, the side of the road in which the vehicle is driven, the season, and the frequency. Multipath effects during line-of-sight communications are shown to cause less serious fading (e.g., smaller than 3 dB for 90 percent of the driving distance).

Goldhirsh, Julius

Optimization of coupled systems: A critical overview of approaches

A unified overview is given of problem formulation approaches for the optimization of multidisciplinary coupled systems. The overview includes six fundamental approaches upon which a large number of variations may be made. Consistent approach names and a compact approach notation are given. The approaches are formulated to apply to general nonhierarchic systems. The approaches are compared both from a computational viewpoint and a managerial viewpoint. Opportunities for parallelism of both computation and manpower resources are discussed. Recommendations regarding the need for future research are advanced.

Balling, R. J.

Overview of the LDEF MSIG databasing activities

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) and the accompanying experiments were composed of and contained a wide variety of materials, representing the largest collection of materials flown in low earth orbit (LEO) and retrieved for ground-based analysis to date. The results and implications of the mechanical, thermal, optical, and electrical data from these materials are the foundation on which future LEO spacecraft and missions will be built. The LDEF Materials Special Investigation Group (MSIG) has been charged with establishing and developing databases to document these materials and their performance to assure not only that the data are archived for future generations but also that the data are available to the spacecraft user community in an easily accessed, user-friendly form. This paper gives an overview of the current LDEF Materials Databases, their capabilities, and availability. An overview of the philosophy and format of a developing handbook on LEO effects on materials is also described.

Funk, Joan G.

Vertical flight training: An overview of training and flight simulator technology with emphasis on rotary-wing requirements

The principal purpose of this publication is to provide a broad overview of the technology that is relevant to the design of aviation training systems and of the techniques applicable to the development, use, and evaluation of those systems. The issues addressed in our 11 chapters are, for the most part, those that would be expected to surface in any informed discussion of the major characterizing elements of aviation training systems. Indeed, many of the same facets of vertical-flight training discussed were recognized and, to some extent, dealt with at the 1991 NASA/FAA Helicopter Simulator Workshop. These generic topics are essential to a sound understanding of training and training systems, and they quite properly form the basis of any attempt to systematize the development and evaluation of more effective, more efficient, more productive, and more economical approaches to aircrew training. Individual chapters address the following topics: an overview of the vertical flight industry: the source of training requirements; training and training schools: meeting current requirements; training systems design and development; transfer of training and cost-effectiveness; the military quest for flight training effectiveness; alternative training systems; training device manufacturing; simulator aero model implementation; simulation validation in the frequency domain; cockpit motion in helicopter simulation; and visual space perception in flight simulators.

Alderete, Thomas S.

International Space Station Overview

The overview of the International Space Station (ISS) is comprised of the program vision and mission; Space Station uses; definition of program phases; as well as descriptions and status of several scheduled International Space Station Overview assembly flights.

William V. Bates, Jr

Overview of Fluid Dynamics Activities at the Marshall Space Flight Center

Since its inception 40 years ago, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has had the need to maintain and advance state-of-the-art flow analysis and cold-flow testing capability to support its roles and missions. This overview discusses the recent organizational changes that have occurred at MSFC with emphasis on the resulting three groups that form the core of fluid dynamics expertise at MSFC: the Fluid Physics and Dynamics Group, the Applied Fluid Dynamics Analysis Group, and the Experimental Fluid Dynamics Group. Recently completed activities discussed include the analysis and flow testing in support of the Fastrac engine design, the X-33 vehicle design, and the X34 propulsion system design. Ongoing activities include support of the RLV vehicle design, Liquid Fly Back Booster aerodynamic configuration definition, and RLV focused technologies development. Other ongoing activities discussed are efforts sponsored by the Center Director's Discretionary Fund (CDDF) to develop an advanced incompressible flow code and to develop optimization techniques. Recently initiated programs and their anticipated required fluid dynamics support are discussed. Based on recent experiences and on the anticipated program needs, required analytical and experimental technique improvements are presented. Due to anticipated budgetary constraints, there is a strong need to leverage activities and to pursue teaming arrangements in order to advance the state-of-the-art and to adequately support concept development. Throughout this overview there is discussion of the lessons learned and of the capabilities demonstrated and established in support of the hardware development programs.

Garcia, Roberto

An Overview of the NASA Sounding Rockets and Balloon Programs

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Sounding Rockets and Balloon Programs conduct a combined total of approximately fifty to sixty missions per year in support of the NASA scientific community. These missions are provided in support of investigations sponsored by NASA'S Offices of Space Science, Life and Microgravity Sciences & Applications, and Earth Science. The Goddard Space Flight Center has management and implementation responsibility for these programs. The NASA Sounding Rockets Program has continued to su,pport the science community by integrating their experiments into the sounding rocket payload and providing the rocket vehicle and launch operations necessary to provide the altitude/time required obtain the science objectives. The sounding rockets continue to provide a cost-effective way to make in situ observations from 50 to 1500 km in the near-earth environment and to uniquely cover the altitude regime between 50 km and 130 km above the Earth's surface, which is physically inaccessible to either balloons or satellites. A new architecture for providing this support has been introduced this year with the establishment of the NASA Sounding Rockets Contract. The Program has continued to introduce improvements into their operations and ground and flight systems. An overview of the NASA Sounding Rockets Program with special emphasis on the new support contract will be presented. The NASA Balloon Program continues to make advancements and developments in its capabilities for support of the scientific ballooning community. Long duration balloon (LDB) is a prominent aspect of the program with two campaigns scheduled for this calendar year. Two flights are scheduled in the Northern Hemisphere from Fairbanks, Alaska, in June and two flights are scheduled from McMurdo, Antarctica, in the Southern Hemisphere in December. The comprehensive balloon research and development (R&D) effort has continued with advances being made across the spectrum of balloon related disciplines. As a result of these technology advancements a new ultra long duration balloon project (ULDB) for the development of a 100- day duration balloon capability has been initiated. The ULDB will rely upon new balloon materials and designs to accomplish its goals. The Program has also continued to introduce new technology and improvements into flights systems, ground systems and operational techniques. An overview of the various aspects of the NASA Balloon Program will be presented.

Flowers, Bobby J.