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At least 109 records · Page 6

Using Remotely Sensed Data for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: A Collaborative Effort Between the Climate Change Adaptation Science Investigators Workgroup (CASI), NASA Johnson Space Center, and Jacobs Technology

With ever changing landscapes and environmental conditions due to human induced climate change, adaptability is imperative for the long-term success of facilities and Federal agency missions. To mitigate the effects of climate change, indicators such as above-ground biomass change must be identified to establish a comprehensive monitoring effort. Researching the varying effects of climate change on ecosystems can provide a scientific framework that will help produce informative, strategic and tactical policies for environmental adaptation. As a proactive approach to climate change mitigation, NASA tasked the Climate Change Adaptation Science Investigators Workgroup (CASI) to provide climate change expertise and data to Center facility managers and planners in order to ensure sustainability based on predictive models and current research. Generation of historical datasets that will be used in an agency-wide effort to establish strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation at NASA facilities is part of the CASI strategy. Using time series of historical remotely sensed data is well-established means of measuring change over time. CASI investigators have acquired multispectral and hyperspectral optical and LiDAR remotely sensed datasets from NASA Earth Observation Satellites (including the International Space Station), airborne sensors, and astronaut photography using hand held digital cameras to create a historical dataset for the Johnson Space Center, as well as the Houston and Galveston area. The raster imagery within each dataset has been georectified, and the multispectral and hyperspectral imagery has been atmospherically corrected. Using ArcGIS for Server, the CASI-Regional Remote Sensing data has been published as an image service, and can be visualized through a basic web mapping application. Future work will include a customized web mapping application created using a JavaScript Application Programming Interface (API), and inclusion of the CASI data for the NASA Johnson Space Center into a NASA-Wide GIS Institutional Portal.

Jagge, Amy↗

Study of Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center utility systems

The results of an engineering study of potential energy saving utility system modifications for the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center are presented. The objective of the study was to define and analyze utility options that would provide facility energy savings in addition to the approximately 25 percent already achieved through an energy loads reduction program. A systems engineering approach was used to determine total system energy and cost savings resulting from each of the ten major options investigated. The results reported include detailed cost analyses and cost comparisons of various options. Cost are projected to the year 2000. Also included are a brief description of a mathematical model used for the analysis and the rationale used for a site survey to select buildings suitable for analysis.

Redding, T. E.↗

A monograph of the National Space Transportation System Office (NSTSO) integration activities conducted at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for the EASE/ACCESS payload flown on STS 61-B

The integration process of activities conducted at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) for the Experimental Assembly of Structures in Extravehicular activity (EASE)/Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures (ACCESS) payload is provided as a subset to the standard payload integration process used by the NASA Space Transportation System (STS) to fly payloads on the Space Shuttle. The EASE/ACCESS payload integration activities are chronologically reviewed beginning with the initiation of the flight manifesting and integration process. The development and documentation of the EASE/ACCESS integration requirements are also discussed along with the implementation of the mission integration activities and the engineering assessments supporting the flight integration process. In addition, the STS management support organizations, the payload safety process leading to the STS 61-B flight certification, and the overall EASE/ACCESS integration schedule are presented.

Chassay, Charles↗

The 1990 Johnson Space Center bibliography of scientific and technical papers

Abstracts are presented of scientific and technical papers written and/or presented by L. B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) authors, including civil servants, contractors, and grantees, during the calendar year of 1990. Citations include conference and symposium presentations, papers published in proceedings or other collective works, seminars, and workshop results, NASA formal report series (including contractually required final reports), and articles published in professional journals.

Source record↗

NASA Johnson Space Center: Total quality partnership

The development of and benefits realized from a joint NASA, support contractor continuous improvement process at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) is traced. The joint effort described is the Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance Directorate relationship with its three support contractors which began in early 1990. The Continuous Improvement effort started in early 1990 with an initiative to document and simplify numerous engineering change evaluation processes. This effort quickly grew in scope and intensity to include process improvement teams, improvement methodologies, awareness, and training. By early 1991, the support contractor had teams in place and functioning, program goals established and a cultural change effort underway. In mid-l991 it became apparent that a major redirection was needed to counter a growing sense of frustration and dissatisfaction from teams and managers. Sources of frustration were isolated to insufficient joint participation on teams, and to a poorly defined vision. Over the next year, the effort was transformed to a truly joint process. The presentation covers the steps taken to define vision, values, goals, and priorities and to form a joint Steering Committee and joint process improvement teams. The most recent assessment against the President's award criteria is presented as a summary of progress. Small, but important improvement results have already demonstrated the value of the joint effort.

Harlan, Charlie↗

Johnson Space Center Astronaut and Flight Surgeon Survey Report (January 2008)

In early 2007, an incident involving former astronaut, Lisa Nowak, led NASA to conduct several reviews including internal and external evaluations of astronaut behavioral health and medical care. The internal NASA review, led by Johnson Space Center (JSC), focused on two elements: 1) current astronaut behavioral medicine practices and 2) a review of relevant records and information to determine whether any leading indicators that could have averted the incident were missed. The external review, conducted by the NASA Astronaut Health Care System Review Committee (comprised of external experts from the behavioral health and aerospace medical communities), focused on space medicine operations at JSC.

Johnson Space Center(JSC)↗

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) proposed dual-use technology investment program in intelligent robots

This paper presents an overview of the proposed Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) precompetitive, dual-use technology investment project in robotics. New robotic technology in advanced robots, which can recognize and respond to their environments and to spoken human supervision so as to perform a variety of combined mobility and manipulation tasks in various sectors, is an obejective of this work. In the U.S. economy, such robots offer the benefits of improved global competitiveness in a critical industrial sector; improved productivity by the end users of these robots; a growing robotics industry that produces jobs and profits; lower cost health care delivery with quality improvements; and, as these 'intelligent' robots become acceptable throughout society, an increase in the standard of living for everyone. In space, such robots will provide improved safety, reliability, and productivity as Space Station evolves, and will enable human space exploration (by human/robot teams). The proposed effort consists of partnerships between manufacturers, universities, and JSC to develop working production prototypes of these robots by leveraging current development by both sides. Currently targeted applications are in the manufacturing, health care, services, and construction sectors of the U.S. economy and in the inspection, servicing, maintenance, and repair aspects of space exploration. But the focus is on the generic software architecture and standardized interfaces for custom modules tailored for the various applications allowing end users to customize a robot as PC users customize PC's. Production prototypes would be completed in 5 years under this proposal.

Erikson, Jon D.↗

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) proposed dual-use technology investment program in intelligent robotics

This paper presents an overview of the proposed Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) precompetitive, dual-use technology investment project in robotics. New robotic technology in advanced robots, which can recognize and respond to their environments and to spoken human supervision so as to perform a variety of combined mobility and manipulation tasks in various sectors, is an objective of this work. In the U.S. economy, such robots offer the benefits of improved global competitiveness in a critical industrial sector; improved productivity by the end users of these robots; a growing robotics industry that produces jobs and profits; lower cost health care delivery with quality improvements; and, as these 'intelligent' robots become acceptable throughout society, an increase in the standard of living for everyone. In space, such robots will provide improved safety, reliability, and productivity as Space Station evolves, and will enable human space exploration (by human/robot teams). The proposed effort consists of partnerships between manufacturers, universities, and JSC to develop working production prototypes of these robots by leveraging current development by both sides. Currently targeted applications are in the manufacturing, health care, services, and construction sectors of the U.S. economy and in the inspection, servicing, maintenance, and repair aspects of space exploration. But the focus is on the generic software architecture and standardized interfaces for custom modules tailored for the various applications allowing end users to customize a robot as PC users customize PC's. Production prototypes would be completed in 5 years under this proposal.

Erickson, Jon D.↗

Lead Paint Exposure Assessment in High Bays of Johnson Space Center

This slide presentation reviews the program to assess the possibility of lead paint exposure in the high bays of some of the Johnson Space Center buildings. Some of the buildings in the Manned Space Flight Center (MSC) were built in 1962 and predate any considerations to reduce lead in paints and coatings. There are many of these older buildings that contain open shops and work areas that have open ceilings, These shops include those that had operations that use leaded gasoline, batteries, and lead based paints. Test were planned to be conducted in three phases: (1) Surface Dust sampling, (2) personal exposure montioring, and (3) Ceiling paint Sampling. The results of the first two phases were reviewed. After considering the results of the first two phases, and the problems associated with the retrieval of samples from high ceilings, it was determined that the evaluation of ceiling coatings would be done on a project by project and in response to a complaint.

Stanch, Penney↗

The Johnson Space Center Management Information Systems (JSCMIS). 1: Requirements Definition and Design Specifications for Versions 2.1 and 2.1.1. 2: Documented Test Scenario Environments. 3: Security Design and Specifications

The Johnson Space Center Management Information System (JSCMIS) is an interface to computer data bases at NASA Johnson which allows an authorized user to browse and retrieve information from a variety of sources with minimum effort. This issue gives requirements definition and design specifications for versions 2.1 and 2.1.1, along with documented test scenario environments, and security object design and specifications.

Source record↗

Handling Heavenly Jewels - 35 Years of Antarctic Meteorite Processing at Johnson Space Center

The ANSMET program began in 1976, and since that time more than 18,000 meteorites have been processed in the Meteorite Processing Lab at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX[1]. The meteorites are collected and returned to JSC on a freezer truck and remain frozen until they are initially processed. Initial Processing of Meteorites: Initial processing involves drying the meteorites in a nitrogen glove box for 24 to 48 hours, photographing, measuring, weighing and writing a description of the interior and exterior. The meteorite is broken and a representative sample is sent to the Smithsonian Institution for classification. Newsletter & Requests: Once initial processing has been complete and the meteorites have been classified, the information is published in the Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter[2,3]. The newsletter is published twice yearly and is sent electronically to researchers around the world and is also available on line. Researchers are asked to fill out a request form and submit it to the Meteorite Working Group secretary. All sample requests will be reviewed by either the meteorite curator or the Meteorite Working Group de-pending on the type of meteorite and the research being conducted. Processing for Sample Requests: In the meteorite processing lab, meteorite samples are prepared several different ways. Most samples are prepared as chips obtained by use of stainless steel chisels in a chipping bowl or rock splitter. In special situations where a researcher needs a slab the meteorite samples can be bandsawed in a dry nitrogen glove box with a diamond blade, no liquids are ever introduced into the cabinet. The last type of sample preparation is thin/thick sections. The meteorite thin section lab at JSC can prepare standard 30-micron thin sections, thick sections of variable thickness (100 to 200 microns), or demountable sections using superglue. Information for researchers: It is important that re-searchers fill the sample request form completely, in order to make sure the meteorite is processed correctly[4]. Re-searchers should list any special requirements on the form, i.e. packaging of samples (poly vs. stainless), thick sections and thickness needed, superglue needed, interior chips, exterior chips, fusion crust, contamination issues, all concerns should be listed so processing can be done accurately and any concerns the researcher has can be addressed be-fore the meteorites are broken.

Satterwhite, C. E.↗

Optical correlator use at Johnson Space Center

For automation and robotics in the Space Station era, NASA's Johnson Space Center is pursuing several means of synthetic vision. The optical correlator is one such means. The deformable mirror device will form the basis of the first correlator in this project. In-house and contracted effort is being used. Initial in-house activities will concentrate on an impulse deconvolution technique and on a programmable retina for spatial remappings of an image prior to correlation. The retina will permit a form of edge extraction and other primitive operations. Additionally, it will be used as a research tool for assisting persons with low vision.

Juday, Richard D.↗

Thermal Nondestructive Evaluation Report: Inspection of the Refurbished Manipulator Arm System in the Manipulator Development Facility at Johnson Space Center 10-12 January 2001

On 4 December 2002, a failure of the Refurbished Manipulator Arm System (RMAS) occurred in the Manipulator Development Facility (MDF) at Johnson Space Center. When the Test Director commanded a should pitch maneuver to lift the arm from its payload bay pedestal, the yaw controls failed. This, coupled with a gravitational forces (due to the angle of the shoulder joint with respect to vertical), resulted in uncontrolled arm motion. The shoulder yaw joint moved approximately 20 degrees, causing the extended arm to strike and severely damage the port side MDF catwalk handrails. The arm motion stopped after impact with the handrails. On 10-12 January 2001, inspections were performed on the port face of the lower and upper arms of the RMAS using a infrared thermography developed at Langley Research Center. This paper presents the results of those nondestructive inspections and provides a complete description of the anomalies found and their locations.

Cramer, K. Elliott↗

NASA Johnson Space Center's Energy and Sustainability Efforts

This viewgraph presentation reviews the efforts that NASA is making to assure a sustainable environment and energy savings at the Johnson Space Center. Sustainability is defined as development that meets the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The new technologies that are required for sustainable closed loop life support for space exploration have uses on the ground to reduce energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use. Some of these uses are reviewed.

Ewert, Michael K.↗

LDEF meteoroid and debris special investigation group investigations and activities at the Johnson Space Center

Since the return of the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) in January, 1990, members of the Meteoroid and Debris Special Investigation Group (M&D SIG) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas have been examining LDEF hardware in an effort to expand the knowledge base regarding the low-Earth orbit (LEO) particulate environment. In addition to the various investigative activities, JSC is also the location of the general Meteoroid & Debris database. This publicly accessible database contains information obtained from the various M&D SIG investigations, as well as limited data obtained by individual LDEF Principal Investigators. LDEF exposed approximately 130 m(exp 2) of surface area to the LEO particulate environment, approximately 15.4 m(exp 2) of which was occupied by structural frame components (i.e., longerons and intercoastals) of the spacecraft. The data reported here was obtained as a result of detailed scans of LDEF intercoastals, 68 of which reside at JSC. The limited amount of data presently available on the A0178 thermal control blankets was reported last year and will not be reiterated here. The data presented here are limited to measurements of crater diameters and their frequency of occurrence (i.e., flux).

See, Thomas H.↗

A Study of Mars Dust Environment Simulation at NASA Johnson Space Center Energy Systems Test Area Resource Conversion Test Facility

The dust environment on Mars is planned to be simulated in a 20 foot thermal-vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center, Energy Systems Test Area Resource Conversion Test Facility in Houston, Texas. This vacuum chamber will be used to perform tests and study the interactions between the dust in Martian air and ISPP hardware. This project is to research, theorize, quantify, and document the Mars dust/wind environment needed for the 20 foot simulation chamber. This simulation work is to support the safety, endurance, and cost reduction of the hardware for the future missions. The Martian dust environment conditions is discussed. Two issues of Martian dust, (1) Dust Contamination related hazards, and (2) Dust Charging caused electrical hazards, are of our interest. The different methods of dust particles measurement are given. The design trade off and feasibility were studied. A glass bell jar system is used to evaluate various concepts for the Mars dust/wind environment simulation. It was observed that the external dust source injection is the best method to introduce the dust into the simulation system. The dust concentration of 30 Mg/M3 should be employed for preparing for the worst possible Martian atmosphere condition in the future. Two approaches thermal-panel shroud for the hardware conditioning are discussed. It is suggested the wind tunnel approach be used to study the dust charging characteristics then to be apply to the close-system cyclone approach. For the operation cost reduction purpose, a dehumidified ambient air could be used to replace the expensive CO2 mixture for some tests.

Chen, Yuan-Liang Albert↗

Zeoponic Plant Growth Substrate Development at the Johnson Space Center and Possible Use at a Martian Outpost

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) is developing a substrate, termed zeoponics, that will slowly release all of the essential nutrients into solution for plant growth experiments in advanced life support system testbeds. This substrate is also potentially useful in the near future on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station and could eventually be used at an outpost on Mars. Chemical analyses of the Martian soil by the Viking and Mars Pathfinder missions have indicated that several of the elements required for plant growth are available in the soil. It may be possible to use the martian soil as the bulk substrate for growing food crops, while using smaller amounts of zeoponic substrate as an amendment to rectify any nutrient deficiencies.

Gruener, John E.↗