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A program designed to find ways of transferring space technology to non-space medicine is discussed. The methodology used to attack the problem and several illustrative examples of the results are given.
An experimental project is reported which was undertaken. to determine if selected types of technology developed for the aerospace program during the past decade are relevant to specific industrial problems of a developing nation and to test whether a structured program could facilitate the transfer of relevant technologies. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology and the IIT Research Institute were selected as the active transfer agents to participate in the program. The pilot project was based upon the approach to the transfer of domestic technology developed by the NASA Technology Utilization Division and utilized the extensive data and technical resources available through the Space Agency and its contractors. This pilot project has helped to clarify some aspects of the international technology transfer process and to upgrade Korean technological capabilities.
The goal of this program is to develop a lightweight nickel electrode for advanced aerospace nickel-hydrogen cells and batteries with improved specific energy and specific volume. The lightweight nickel electrode will improve the specific energy of a nickel-hydrogen cell by >50%. These near-term advanced batteries will reduce power system mass and volume, while decreasing the cost, thus increasing mission capabilities and enabling small spacecraft missions. This development also offers a cost savings over the traditional sinter development methods for fabrication. The technology has been transferred to Eagle-Picher, a major aerospace battery manufacturer, who has scaled up the process developed at NASA GRC and fabricated electrodes for incorporation into flight-weight nickel-hydrogen cells.
The objective of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Technology Utilization Program is to identify, document, and transfer to the national economy the technical advances resulting from our space and research programs. These innovations, when properly applied in industry and business, hold great promise for improving our everyday life and contributing to the prosperity of the nation. We believe that the knowledge, progress, and advances associated with aerospace technology contain major potential for industrial applications. The content and method of presenting symposium papers by Marshall and selected contractor personnel have been designed to transfer an awareness of at least some new technology to attendees in nonaerospace fields.
NASA program for transferring biotechnology applications to clinical medicine use
A relatively new area of interest in aerospace systems survivability is the growing threat of spacecraft penetration by orbital debris. Orbital debris, or "space junk", is composed of the man-made remnants of non-functioning spacecraft still orbiting the Earth. NASA estimates that there are currently over 100,000 orbital debris particles 1 centimeter in diameter or larger that cannot be tracked by existing radar, with the population growing at approximately 4% per year in low earth orbits. With an average velocity of over 8.7 km/sec, these projectiles can penetrate and disable many vulnerable spacecraft systems. Since the likelihood of spacecraft penetration increases with spacecraft surface area, large spacecraft (such as the International Space Station) and communication satellite fleets (such as Iridium) have begun to adopt survivability enhancement strategies similar to those employed by combat aircraft. Collision avoidance maneuvers are commonly practiced by the Space Shuttle and are planned by the International Space Station to decrease their susceptibility to impact by trackable orbital debris; likewise, improved shielding, internal equipment placement, and improved crew operations following penetration can reduce the vulnerability of spacecraft to loss following orbital debris impact. Computer simulations such as the Manned Spacecraft and Crew Survivability (MSCSurv) program at the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center have recently been developed to quantify and reduce the likelihood of crew or spacecraft loss following orbital debris penetration. The AIAA Survivability Technical Committee is working to enable the transfer of military-developed survivability technologies to help the aerospace industry cope with this growing threat.
NASA safety related research programs based on technology transfer involving information summarizing, indexing and storage from global aerospace research and development
The School of Science at Universidad del Turabo (UT) have a long-lasting investigation plan to study the hydrogen cleaning and purification technologies. We proposed a research project for the synthesis, phase analysis and porosity characterization of zeolite based ceramic perm-selective membranes for hydrogen cleaning to support NASA's commitment to achieving a broad-based research capability focusing on aerospace-related issues. The present study will focus on technology transfer by utilizing inorganic membranes for production of ultra-clean hydrogen for application in combustion. We tested three different natural zeolite membranes (different particle size at different temperatures and time of exposure). Our results show that the membranes exposured at 900 C for 1Hr has the most higher permeation capacity, indicated that our zeolite membranes has the capacity to permeate hydrogen.
A bipolar, donor-recipient model of medical technology transfer is introduced to provide a basis for the team's methodology. That methodology is designed (1) to identify medical problems and NASA technology that in combination constitute opportunities for successful medical products, (2) to obtain the early participation of industry in the transfer proces, and (3) to obtain acceptance by the medical community of new medical products based on NASA technology. Two commercial technology transfers and five institutional technology transfers were completed in 1977. A new, commercially available teaching manikin system uses NASA-developed concepts and techniques for effective visual presentation of information and data. Drugs shipped by the National Cancer Institute to locations throughout the world are maintained at low temperatures in shipping containers that incorporate recommendations made by NASA.
A compilation is presented for the dissemination of information on technological developments which have potential utility outside the aerospace and nuclear communities. Studies include theories and mechanical considerations in the transfer of heat and the thermodynamic properties of matter and the causes and effects of certain interactions.
An overview of NASA Langley's research program in formal methods is presented. The major goal of this work is to bring formal methods technology to a sufficiently mature level for use by the United States aerospace industry. Towards this goal, work is underway to design and formally verify a fault-tolerant computing platform suitable for advanced flight control applications. Also, several direct technology transfer efforts have been initiated that apply formal methods to critical subsystems of real aerospace computer systems. The research team consists of six NASA civil servants and contractors from Boeing Military Aircraft Company, Computational Logic Inc., Odyssey Research Associates, SRI International, University of California at Davis, and Vigyan Inc.
The optimal control problem arising in coplanar, orbital transfer employing aeroassist technology is addressed. The maneuver involves the transfer from high Earth orbit to low Earth orbit. A performance index is chosen the minimize the fuel consumpltion for the transfer. Simulations are carried out for establishing a corridor of entry conditions which are suitable for flying the spacecraft through the atmosphere. A highlight of the paper is the application of an efficient multiple shooting method for taming the notorious nonlinear, two-point, boundary value problem resulting from optimization procedure.
The optimal control problem arising in coplanar orbital transfer employing aeroassist technology and the fuel-optimal control problem arising in orbital transfer vehicles employing aeroassist technology are addressed.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has led the development of advanced imaging sensors and image processing technologies for space science and Earth science missions. NASA considers the transfer and commercialization of such technologies a fundamental mission of the agency. Over the last two years, efforts have been focused on the application of aerospace imaging and computing to the field of diagnostic imaging, specifically to breast cancer imaging. These technology transfer efforts offer significant promise in helping in the national public health priority of the early detection of breast cancer.
This report selectively summarizes the NASA Lewis Research Center's research and technology accomplishments for fiscal year 1995. It comprises over 150 short articles submitted by the staff members of the technical directorates. The report is organized into six major sections: aeronautics, aerospace technology, space flight systems, engineering support, Lewis Research Academy, and technology transfer. A table of contents, an author index, and a list of NASA Headquarters program offices have been included to assist the reader in finding articles of special interest. This report is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of all research and technology work done over the past fiscal year. Most of the work is reported in Lewis-published technical reports, journal articles, and presentations prepared by Lewis staff members and contractors (for abstracts of these Lewis-authored reports, visit the Lewis Technical Report Server (LETRS) on the World Wide Web-http://letrs.lerc.nasa.gov/LeTRS/). In addition, university grants have enabled faculty members and graduate students to engage in sponsored research that is reported at technical meetings or in journal articles. For each article in this report, a Lewis contact person has been identified, and where possible, reference documents are listed so that additional information can be easily obtained. The diversity of topics attests to the breadth of research and technology being pursued and to the skill mix of the staff that makes it possible. For more information about Lewis' research, visit us on the World Wide web-http://www.lerc.nasa.gov.
The purpose of the present overview is to summarize the current knowledge of the NATO contributors. All the topics will be addressed in this chapter, with references and some examples. This background enhances the level of knowledge of the NATO scramjet community, which will be used for writing the specific chapters of the Report. Some previous overviews have been published on scramjet technology worldwide. NASA, DOD, the U.S. industry and global community have studied scramjet-powered hypersonic vehicles for over 40 years. Within the U.S. alone, NASA, DOD (DARPA, U.S. Navy and USAF), and industry have participated in hypersonic technology development. Over this time NASA Langley Research Center continuously studied hypersonic system design, aerothermodynamics, scramjet propulsion, propulsion-airframe integration, high temperature materials and structural architectures, and associated facilities, instrumentation and test methods. These modestly funded programs were substantially augmented during the National Aero-Space Plane (X-30) Program, which spent more than $3B between 1984 and 1995, and brought the DOD and other NASA Centers, universities and industry back into hypersonics. In addition, significant progress was achieved in all technologies required for hypersonic flight, and much of that technology was transferred into other programs, such as X-33, DC-X, X-37, X-43, etc. In addition, technology transfer impacted numerous other industries, including automotive, medical, sports and aerospace.
A key element to improved industry productivity is effective management of Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) information. To stimulate advancement, a unique joint government/industry project designated Integrated Programs for Aerospace-Vehicle Design (IPAD) was carried out from 1971 to 1984. The goal was to raise aerospace industry productivity through advancement of computer based technology to integrate and manage information involved in the design and manufacturing process. IPAD research was guided by an Industry Technical Advisory Board (ITAB) composed of over 100 representatives from aerospace and computer companies. The project complemented traditional NASA/DOD research to develop aerospace design technology and the Air Force's Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) program to advance CAM technology. IPAD had unprecedented industry support and involvement and served as a unique approach to government industry cooperation in the development and transfer of advanced technology. The IPAD project background, approach, accomplishments, industry involvement, technology transfer mechanisms and lessons learned are summarized.