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At least 145 records · Page 8

Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut. International Fitness Challenge

The Mission X, Train like an Astronaut, pilot project was a 2-year effort directed by the International Life Science Working Group. The pilot was funded by the Human Research Program and was lead by the Human Research Program Education and Outreach (HRPEO) project and supported by a group of space agencies providing in-kind resources. The aim was to identify an international educational outreach concept that would promote a life science topic utilizing the education and outreach expertise of the various space agencies working on the utilization of the International Space Station. This in turn serves as an inspiration for the younger generation to aspire to go further in school, and provides insight into the capability of a participating country to ensure the effort provided value for their communities and children. The pilot project developed the necessary tools to promote communications between the partners and to use materials and expertise from all the countries? space agencies. The Mission X Website (trainlikeanastronaut.org) provided a single repository for the educational activities as well as a place for the Challenge Teams to provide their progress in the international fitness challenge. It also added to the International flavor as different countries were able to share and learn about what was happening with all those involved in the 6-week challenge period. A point system was utilized to promote constructive, cooperative competition in which 4164 students participated. The points were used to help FitKid, Astro Charlie, "Walk-To-The-Moon". The 18 physical and educational Mission X activities were made available on the Mission X website in seven languages. The Mission X pilot project was considered a success in 1) the design, development, and implementation of the multi-language website, 2) the expansion of healthy lifestyle awareness, and 3) the concept for drawing an international educational community together to highlight global topics in association with human space exploration. Metrics (70 post-event surveys) and lessons learned were collated and assessed. Key Lessons Learned were 1) foster and strengthen partnerships at all levels, 2) enhance and standardize MX Training, and 3) further expansion of activities and methods to teach the importance of fitness and nutrition. Methods used to teach the importance of nutrition and fitness are provided in the report.

Lloyd, Charles

International Space Education Outreach: Taking Exploration to the Global Classroom

With the development of the International Space Station and the need for international collaboration for returning to the moon and developing a mission to Mars, NASA has embarked on developing international educational programs related to space exploration. In addition, with the explosion of educational technology, linking students on a global basis is more easily accomplished. This technology is bringing national and international issues into the classroom, including global environmental issues, the global marketplace, and global collaboration in space. We present the successes and lessons learned concerning international educational and public outreach programs that we have been involved in for NASA as well as the importance of sustaining these international peer collaborative programs for the future generations. These programs will undoubtedly be critical in enhancing the classroom environment and will affect the achievements in and attitudes towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Dreschel, T. W.

International Human Mission to Mars: Analyzing A Conceptual Launch and Assembly Campaign

In July of 2013, U.S. Congressman Kennedy (D-Mass.) successfully offered an amendment to H.R. 2687, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2013. "International Participation—The President should invite the United States partners in the International Space Station program and other nations, as appropriate, to participate in an international initiative under the leadership of the United States to achieve the goal of successfully conducting a crewed mission to the surface of Mars." This paper presents a concept for an international campaign to launch and assemble a crewed Mars Transfer Vehicle. NASA’s “Human Exploration of Mars: Design Reference Architecture 5.0” (DRA 5.0) was used as the point of departure for this concept. DRA 5.0 assumed that the launch and assembly campaign would be conducted using NASA launch vehicles. The concept presented utilizes a mixed fleet of NASA Space Launch System (SLS), U.S. commercial and international launch vehicles to accomplish the launch and assembly campaign. This concept has the benefit of potentially reducing the campaign duration. However, the additional complexity of the campaign must also be considered. The reliability of the launch and assembly campaign utilizing SLS launches augmented with commercial and international launch vehicles is analyzed and compared using discrete event simulation.

Cates, Grant

Using an Altimeter-Derived Internal Tide Model to Remove Tides from in Situ Data

Internal waves at tidal frequencies, i.e., the internal tides, are a prominent source of variability in the ocean associated with significant vertical isopycnal displacements and currents. Because the isopycnal displacements are caused by ageostrophic dynamics, they contribute uncertainty to geostrophic transport inferred from vertical profiles in the ocean. Here it is demonstrated that a newly developed model of the main semidiurnal (M2) internal tide derived from satellite altimetry may be used to partially remove the tide from vertical profile data, as measured by the reduction of steric height variance inferred from the profiles. It is further demonstrated that the internal tide model can account for a component of the near-surface velocity as measured by drogued drifters. These comparisons represent a validation of the internal tide model using independent data and highlight its potential use in removing internal tide signals from in situ observations.

Zaron, Edward D.

On the validity and limitations of 1D model for heat and mass transfer performance evaluation in a multilayer binder-free desiccant dehumidifier: isothermal dehumidification with internal cooling

Efficient humidity control is essential for maintaining indoor thermal comfort, yet conventional vapor-compression-based dehumidifiers are energy-intensive. Employing separate sensible and latent cooling through desiccant-coated heat exchangers (DCHEs) combined with evaporative coolers offers energy savings of up to 80 % compared to conventional systems. However, the dehumidification performance of DCHEs remains limited due to the use of polymer binders for coating desiccant materials onto heat exchange surfaces. In our previous study, we developed a multilayer fixed-bed binder-free desiccant dehumidifier (MFBDD) that demonstrated high dehumidification capacity and low pressure drop compared to rotary desiccant wheels. Nevertheless, its potential for further enhancement through internal cooling and the use of step-shaped adsorption isotherms has not been explored. In this study, a physics-based one-dimensional (1D) transient model is developed and validated to capture the coupled heat and mass transfer processes in the MFBDD and extended to simulate internal cooling using a high-capacity composite metal–organic framework, MIL-101/GO-6 (water uptake ≈1.6 g/g within 35–47 % RH). The model enables detailed analysis of local air and bed temperature dynamics and quantifies how internal cooling affects the dehumidification performance under a wide range of operating conditions. Results show that integrating internal cooling and using MIL-101/GO-6 enhance mass adsorbed, moisture removal capacity, and dehumidification effectiveness by 50 %–99 % compared with the M.S. Gel baseline. The study further reveals that achieving near-isothermal operation requires simultaneous enhancement of the convective heat transfer coefficient and heat exchange surface area. In conclusion, this work provides the first detailed physical insight into the interplay between internal cooling and step-shaped isotherms in a binder-free desiccant device and establishes a validated modeling framework for scaling up and system-level performance evaluation of next-generation energy-efficient dehumidification systems.

Heat and mass transfer

Thermodynamics of the internal combustion engine

The ubiquitous automobile has played both the role of hero and villain during the course of its history. At the present time it is being cast as the villain with increasing frequency because it has been indicted as a major source of air pollution. It is just this characterization that is responsible for our renewed interest in the automobile. When we speak of the automobile as a source of air pollution, we really mean the heart of the automobile, the internal combustion engine. The prototype of the modern internal combustion engine was first successfully operated by Nicholas August Otto in 1876. In spite of its long history, the internal combustion engine is still poorly understood in terms of the details of the physical processes that take place during its operations. The internal combustion engine operates on what is known as the Otto cycle, and Otto cycle calculations have been with us for many years. The emphasis in earlier calculations was usually on the performance rather than on the pollution aspects. Performance characteristics can often be estimated reasonably accurately even with a considerable degree of simplification. We are interested in the pollution aspects of the internal combustion engine, and therefore the calculations must be performed with more care. Our extensive experience with equilibrium calculations places us in a position to carry out such careful calculations. We have just recently begun such an analysis, and its objective is the prediction of exhaust gas properties. I will describe our progress by first reviewing the Otto cycle, and then I will illustrate the effect of various assumptions on the calculated results.

Frank J. Zeleznik

Improvements in Heat Transfer for Anti-Icing of Gas-Heated Airfoils with Internal Fins and Partitions

The effect of modifying the gas passage of hollow metal airfoils by the additIon of internal fins and partitions was experimentally investigated and comparisons were made among a basic unfinned airfoil section and two airfoil designs having metal fins attached at the leading edge of the internal gas passage. An analysis considering the effects of heat conduction in the airfoil metal was made to determine the internal modification effectiveness that may be obtained in gas-heated components, such as turbojet-inlet guide vanes, support struts, hollow propeller blades, arid. thin wings. Over a wide range of heated-gas flow and tunnel-air velocity, the increase In surface-heating rates with internal finning was marked (up to 3.5 times), with the greatest increase occurring at the leading edge where anti-icing heat requirements are most critical. Variations in the amount and the location of internal finning and. partitioning provided. control over the local rates of surface heat transfer and permitted efficient anti-icing utilization of the gas-stream heat content.

Gray, Vernon H.

Internal waves in the Gulf of California - Observations from a spaceborne radar

Pronounced signatures of internal waves were detected repeatedly in the Gulf of California by the Seasat synthetic aperture radar (SAR). A series of nine images with exactly repeating ground coverage was used to study the temporal variability of the internal wave field in the area. It was found that the number of observed wave groups was highly correlated with the strength of the local tides: the maximum number occurred during spring tides and the minimum number occurred during neap tides, indicating that the internal waves were tidally forced. Most of the wave activity was found to the north of 28 deg N where the tides were the strongest in the Gulf. The application of a simple, nonlinear internal wave model to the observations indicated that the peak-to-peak amplitude of the observed waves was about 50 m with an uncertainty of a factor of 2. The estimated upper bound for the rate of the loss of tidal energy to internal waves was about 5 x 10 to the 15th erg/s, representing only 10 percent of the rate of the dissipation of the dominant M2 tide in the Gulf.

Fu, L.-L.

SAR internal wave signature experiment

Internal wave and surface wave observations by research vessels will be conducted in conjunction with aircraft SAR images. Synthetic Aperture Radar Internal Wave Signature Experiment (SARSEX) provides an opportunity to acquire aircraft and spacecraft SAR imagery of internal waves with appropriate sea truth data. Objectives are to investigate basic mechanisms (both hydrodynamic and electromagnetic) responsible for internal wave signatures and quantitatively test theories and models for predicting internal wave signatures from given ocean and radar parameters.

Winokur, R. S.

International cooperation for Mars exploration and sample return

The National Research Council's Space Studies Board has previously recommended that the next major phase of Mars exploration for the United States involve detailed in situ investigations of the surface of Mars and the return to earth for laboratory analysis of selected Martian surface samples. More recently, the European space science community has expressed general interest in the concept of cooperative Mars exploration and sample return. The USSR has now announced plans for a program of Mars exploration incorporating international cooperation. If the opportunity becomes available to participate in Mars exploration, interest is likely to emerge on the part of a number of other countries, such as Japan and Canada. The Space Studies Board's Committee on Cooperative Mars Exploration and Sample Return was asked by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to examine and report on the question of how Mars sample return missions might best be structured for effective implementation by NASA along with international partners. The committee examined alternatives ranging from scientific missions in which the United States would take a substantial lead, with international participation playing only an ancillary role, to missions in which international cooperation would be a basic part of the approach, with the international partners taking on comparably large mission responsibilities. On the basis of scientific strategies developed earlier by the Space Studies Board, the committee considered the scientific and technical basis of such collaboration and the most mutually beneficial arrangements for constructing successful cooperative missions, particularly with the USSR.

Levy, Eugene H.

Methods for determining the internal thrust of scramjet engine modules from experimental data

Methods for calculating zero-fuel internal drag of scramjet engine modules from experimental measurements are presented. These methods include two control-volume approaches, and a pressure and skin-friction integration. The three calculation techniques are applied to experimental data taken during tests of a version of the NASA parametric scramjet. The methods agree to within seven percent of the mean value of zero-fuel internal drag even though several simplifying assumptions are made in the analysis. The mean zero-fuel internal drag coefficient for this particular engine is calculated to be 0.150. The zero-fuel internal drag coefficient when combined with the change in engine axial force with and without fuel defines the internal thrust of an engine.

Voland, Randall T.

Differences in the size-internal velocity relation of galactic and extragalactic HII regions

The nature of the size-internal velocity relation in extragalactic HII regions is examined in order to improve their use as distance determinants. The relation between the linear size and the internal velocity was compared for HII regions in the Galaxy and in external galaxies. Data for the former are from the researcher's own studies at high spatial resolution, while the latter have been the subject of spectroscopy that includes almost the entire objects. The Galactic HII regions are corrected to values of the internal velocity that would be observed if they were at extragalactic distances. A very different size-internal velocity relation was found for the two types of objects in the sense that the extragalactic objects are some ten times larger at the same internal velocity. This is interpreted to mean that the extragalactic HII regions are actually complexes of small HII regions comparable in size to their Galactic counterparts.

Odell, C. R.

The 1991 International Conference on Aging Aircraft and Structural Airworthiness

Civil aviation serves a strategic interest to the United States. Thus, the need to maintain a high standard of aviation safety is axiomatic. While the industry has witnessed phenomenal growth in the past two decades, the proportion of aging aircraft in air carrier fleets has been ever increasing-a trend that is projected to continue. Certain events which occurred in 1988 and previous years and public concern about the safety of the high time aircraft led to an International Conference on Aging Aircraft in Washington, D.C., during which a number of aviation safety related issues applicable to aging aircraft were raised and discussed among the conference participants. Various groups that have a vital stake in commercial aviation made certain recommendations which led to the formation of a task force and a broad undertaking involving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), industry and international organizations to insure continued airworthiness of aging airplanes. At the same time, significant research and development programs were initiated by the FAA and NASA to complement the broader effort. In view of the success of the 1988 conference, the FAA desired that conferences be held annually to disseminate information on the status of the task force's activities on aircraft certification and airline maintenance related issues and to offer a forum for participation by all interested parties. Thus, the 2nd International Conference was held in 1989 in Baltimore and the third in the series in 1990 in Bordeaux, France. Both of them, like the first conference, attracted rousing attendance and interest. Thus, the stage was set for organizing the 4th International Conference in 1991. By 1991, the FAA and NASA research programs were yielding significant results, a consideration that led to a larger segment of the 4th International Conference Program being devoted to presentations about the impact of the research on the other activities of the task group. Agreement had also been reached between the FAA and NASA to coordinate and integrate their respective program activities. Hence, NASA was co-opted as a sponsor of the conference. A group consisting of Mr. Stephen Erickson of the Air Transport Association of America, Mr. Jesse Lewis and Mr. Richard Johnson of the FAA, and Mr. Thomas Crooker of NASA was formed to organize the conference. The members of the group are owed special thanks for their efforts that ensured the success of the conference.

Aging Aircraft

Thermo-Elastic Analysis of Internally Cooled Structures Using a Higher Order Theory

This paper presents the results of a study on the thermomechanical behavior of internally cooled silicon nitride structures. Silicon nitride is under consideration for elevated temperature aerospace engine applications. and techniques for lowering the operating temperature of structures composed of this material are under development. Lowering the operating temperature provides a large payoff in terms of fatigue life and may be accomplished through the use of thermal barrier coatings (TBC's) and the novel concept of included cooling channels. Herein, an in-depth study is performed on the behavior of a flame-impinged silicon nitride plate with a TBC and internal channels cooled by forced air. The analysis is performed using the higher order theory for functionally graded materials (HOTFGM), which has been developed through NASA Glenn Research Center funding over the past several years. HOTFGM was chosen over the traditional finite element approach as a prelude to an examination of functionally graded silicon nitride structures for which HOTFGM is ideally suited. To accommodate the analysis requirement% of the internally cooled plate problem, two crucial enhancements were made to the two-dimensional Cartesian-based version of HOTFGM. namely, incorporation of internal boundary capabilities and incorporation of convective boundary conditions. Results indicate the viability and large benefits of cooling the plate via forced air through cooling channels. Furthermore, cooling can positively impact the stress and displacement fields present in the plate, yielding an additional payoff in terms of fatigue life. Finally, a spin-off capability resulted from inclusion of internal boundaries within HOTFGM; the ability to simulate the thermo-elastic response of structures with curved surfaces. This new capability is demonstrated, and through comparison with an analytical solution, shown to be viable and accurate.

Arnold, Steven M.

International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS): Terms of Reference

The International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) is an established Service within Section II , Advanced Space Technology, of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). The primary objective of the ILRS is to provide a service to support, through Satellite and Lunar Laser Ranging data and related products, geodetic and geophysical research activities as well as International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) products important to the maintenance of an accurate International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). The service also develops the necessary standards/specifications and encourages international adherence to its conventions.

Husson, Van

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station - Phase 2 Hardware System

The International Space Station (ISS) ham radio system has been on-orbit for over 3 years. Since its first use in November 2000, the first seven expedition crews and three Soyuz taxi crews have utilized the amateur radio station in the Functional Cargo Block (also referred to as the FGB or Zarya module) to talk to thousands of students in schools, to their families on Earth, and to amateur radio operators around the world. Early on, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) international team devised a multi-phased hardware development approach for the ISS ham radio station. Three internal development Phases. Initial Phase 1, Mobile Radio Phase 2 and Permanently Mounted Phase 3 plus an externally mounted system, were proposed and agreed to by the ARISS team. The Phase 1 system hardware development which was started in 1996 has since been delivered to ISS. It is currently operational on 2 meters. The 70 cm system is expected to be installed and operated later this year. Since 2001, the ARISS international team have worked to bring the second generation ham system, called Phase 2, to flight qualification status. At this time, major portions of the Phase 2 hardware system have been delivered to ISS and will soon be installed and checked out. This paper intends to provide an overview of the Phase 1 system for background and then describe the capabilities of the Phase 2 radio system. It will also describe the current plans to finalize the Phase 1 and Phase 2 testing in Russia and outlines the plans to bring the Phase 2 hardware system to full operation.

Bauer, F.

The Living With a Star Program and International Collaboration

International cooperation has long been a vital element in the scientific investigation of solar variability and its impact on Earth and the space environment. Recently a new international cooperative initiative in solar-terrestrial physics has been established by the major space agencies of the world, called the International Living With a Star (ILWS) program. ILWS is a follow-on to the highly successful International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program, which derived its success from the ,cooperation of a number of international partners. ISTP, with its steady flow of discoveries and new knowledge in solar-terrestrial physics, has laid the foundation for the coordinated study of the Sun-Earth system as a connected stellar-planetary system and as humanity's home. The first step in establishing ILWS was taken in the fall of 2000 when funding was approved for the NASA's LWS program whose goal is to "develop the scientific understanding necessary to effectively address those aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society".

Thompson, Barbara J.

The International Space Station: A Pathway to the Future

Nearly six years after the launch of the first International Space Station element, and four years after its initial occupation, the United States and our 16 international partners have made great strides in operating this impressive Earth orbiting research facility. This past year we have done so in the face of the adversity of operating without the benefit of the Space Shuttle. In his January 14, 2004, speech announcing a new vision for America's space program, President Bush affirmed the United States' commitment to completing construction of the International Space Station by 2010. The President also stated that we would focus our future research aboard the Station on the longterm effects of space travel on human biology. This research will help enable human crews to venture through the vast voids of space for months at a time. In addition, ISS affords a unique opportunity to serve as an engineering test bed for hardware and operations critical to the exploration tasks. NASA looks forward to working with our partners on International Space Station research that will help open up new pathways for future exploration and discovery beyond low Earth orbit. This paper provides an overview of the International Space Station Program focusing on a review of the events of the past year, as well as plans for next year and the future.

Kitmacher, Gary H.