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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

Implications of Public Opinion for Space Program Planning, 1980 - 2000

The effect of public opinion on future space programs is discussed in terms of direct support, apathy, or opposition, and concern about the tax burden, budgetary pressures, and national priorities. Factors considered include: the salience and visibility of NASA as compared with other issues, the sources of general pressure on the federal budget which could affect NASA, the public's opinions regarding the size and priority of NASA'S budget, the degree to which the executive can exercise leverage over NASA's budget through influencing or disregarding public opinion, the effects of linkages to other issues on space programs, and the public's general attitudes toward the progress of science.

Overholt, W.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Obtaining Public Opinion about sUAS Activity in an Urban Environment

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) research project has been developing and testing concept ideas for enabling small UAS (sUAS) operations in low altitude airspace (ground to 400 feet). To do this, a series of flight test demonstrations were organized over five years at seven test sites. Technology Capability Level-4 (TCL4), the most complex flight tests, were conducted in Texas, USA, during August 2019. This testing resulted in over 400 data collection flights using eight live rotorcraft, with nine flight crews flying pre-planned scenarios in the urban downtown and waterfront areas of Corpus Christi, Texas. Test scenarios were designed to include a variety of elements, including live and simulated vehicles, and personnel in many different roles, including flight crews and mission personnel. One group of people who did not have a role in the flight tests but will be affected by UAS operations as they become more ubiquitous, are the general public. What do the public think about sUAS operations in urban areas? In order to obtain a reference point that noted the public's view of the operations in the TCL4 demonstration, a short survey was developed and offered to members of the public who wished to comment on the sUAS activities they saw in their city during two weeks in August, 2019.Forty five people completed the online public opinion survey. Participants volunteered to take it, creating a self-selected sample. The survey included eleven questions that asked participants about their level of comfort and concerns with UAS activity; their knowledge of UAS operations; and, whether a traffic management system like UTM would increase their confidence in urban UAS activity. The general public in Corpus Christi showed a good level of knowledge of sUAS regulations, with almost half of their responses to the knowledge portion of the survey being correct. They expressed a moderate level of concern (x = 4.7 out of 7) at urban sUAS activity and, of those who cited a concern, the majority reported this was about privacy (54%), which are all responses in line with those reported in earlier research on public opinion. Views on UTM were mixed, with respondents indicating they thought the introduction of UTM will improve safety somewhat (5.2 out of 7) but it will also increase their concern a little (4.6 out of 7). This would indicate there needs to be more information and educational material about the UTM concept made available to the public with the aim to reduce public concerns about the system.

Caterina Grossi↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Obtaining Public Opinion About sUAS Activity in an Urban Environment

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) research project has been developing and testing concept ideas for enabling small UAS (sUAS) operations in low altitude airspace (ground to 400 feet). To do this, a series of flight test demonstrations were organized over five years at seven test sites. Technology Capability Level-4 (TCL4), the most complex flight tests, were conducted in Texas, USA, during August 2019. This testing resulted in over 400 data collection flights using eight live rotorcraft, with nine flight crews flying pre-planned scenarios in the urban downtown and waterfront areas of Corpus Christi, Texas. Test scenarios were designed to include a variety of elements, including live and simulated vehicles, and personnel in many different roles, including flight crews and mission personnel. One group of people who did not have a role in the flight tests but will be affected by UAS operations as they become more ubiquitous, are the general public. What do the public think about sUAS operations in urban areas? In order to obtain a reference point that noted the public’s view of the operations in the TCL4 demonstration, a short survey was developed and offered to members of the public who wished to comment on the sUAS activities they saw in their city during two weeks in August, 2019. Forty five people completed the online public opinion survey. Participants volunteered to take it, creating a self-selected sample. The survey included eleven questions that asked participants about their level of comfort and concerns with UAS activity; their knowledge of UAS operations; and, whether a traffic management system like UTM would increase their confidence in urban UAS activity. The general public in Corpus Christi showed a good level of knowledge of sUAS regulations, with almost half of their responses to the knowledge portion of the survey being correct. They expressed a moderate level of concern (x = 4.7 out of 7) at urban sUAS activity and, of those who cited a concern, the majority reported this was about privacy (54%), which are all responses in line with those reported in earlier research on public opinion. Views on UTM were mixed, with respondents indicating they thought the introduction of UTM will improve safety somewhat (5.2 out of 7) but it will also increase their concern a little (4.6 out of 7). This would indicate there needs to be more information and educational material about the UTM concept made available to the public with the aim to reduce public concerns about the system.

UTM↗
NASA NTRS2003

Evolving public perceptions of spaceflight in American culture

There is a belief that exists in the United States about public support for NASA's activities. The belief is almost universally held that NASA and the cause of space exploration enjoyed outstanding public support and confidence in the 1960s during the era of Apollo and that public support waned in the post-Apollo era, only to sink to quite low depths in the decade of the 1990s. These beliefs are predicated on anecdotal evidence that should not be discounted, but empirical evidence gleaned from public opinion polling data suggest that some of these conceptions are totally incorrect and others are either incomplete or more nuanced than previously believed. This paper explores evolution of public support for space exploration since the 1960s. Using polling data from a variety of sources it presents trends over time and offers comments on the meaning of public perceptions for the evolution of space policy and the development of space exploration in the United States. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

United States National Aeronautics and Space Admin↗
NASA NTRS1975

Tidewater metropolitan area transportation survey study

Results of a survey conducted in southeastern Virginia to identify public opinion regarding requirements for future public transportation are analyzed. The effects of age and income level on attitudes concerning city living and no importance of various characteristics described for urban transportation systems are identified.

Ficht, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Anticipating the reaction: public concern about sample return missions

Shifts in public attitude that may affect extraterrestrial sample return include increased public participation in the legal and regulatory environment, institutionalized public vigilance, politicization of technological debates and shifts in the nature of public decision-making, and a risk-averse public accustomed to mass media coverage that focuses on hazards and disasters. The ice-minus recombinant DNA experiment is used as an example of the effects of public opinion on scientific experimentation.

NASA Center ARC↗
NASA NTRS1992

Opinion polls and the US civil space program

An analysis of two public opinion poles that sought to determine NASA's level of support among the American people is presented. One pole models public participation in policy-making as a pyramid. The model provides for three levels of public participation: the attentive public, the interested public, and the non-attentive public. The three groups are discussed in the context of how to best promulgate NASA's mission throughout the American public.

Fries, Sylvia Doughty↗
NASA NTRS1993

Opinion polls and the U.S. civil space program

The conclusions that can be drawn from public opinion polls depend a great deal on what usually does not appear on the newspaper page or television screen. Subtle biases can result from the population interviewed, the time of day individuals were called, how a particular question was asked, or how the answer was interpreted. Examples are the 1961 Gallop Poll, the survey done for Rockwell International by the firm of Yankelovich, Skelly and White/Clancy Shulman, and the one done by Jon D. Miller of the International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy. There is more to learn from opinion polls than that a good proportion of adult Americans support the space program. We can learn that social and economic security are not competing goals with space, but interdependent goals. If we want to increase public support for space, we must increase the number of Americans who have the economic freedom to take an interest in something besides getting by, day after day. We can also learn that the majority of those who support the space program can distinguish between the bread and circuses of space travel. They are content to experience extraordinary adventures in the movie theaters; for their tax dollars they want real return in expended scientific knowledge and understanding. Finally, we can learn that we need to increase that return, not just for scientific careers, but for the ordinary people who pay our bills and for their children, our children. Ultimately, the space program is for them, as all investments in the future must be.

Kraemer, Sylvia K.↗
NASA NTRS1957

World Opinion and the Soviet Satellite: A Preliminary Evaluation

Less than two weeks after the launch of Sputnik I, the United States Information Agency conducted an informal analysis of public opinion on this subject. The analysis yielded four clear conclusions: (1) Soviet claims of scientific and technological superiority were widely accepted in the United States; (2) U.S. allies were concerned about a shift in the balance of military power; (3) the overall credibility of Soviet propaganda was greatly strengthened; and (4) American prestige was dealt a severe blow. The report also concluded that the near-hysteria in the United States in turn increased the level of concern in countries friendly to the United States. An evaluation is presented.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1972

The adversary process in technology assessment

An Agency which would act as a responsible technological ombudsman is proposed for inclusion in the technology assessment mechanism. The agency would be charged solely with the function and responsibility to probe and identify the negative factors and present them to Congress and the public. It is felt that in the development of technology in private sectors there are assessments and controls exerted by the public. However, in governmental technology, the agencies involved tend to emphasize the useful and beneficial aspects, and it is pointed out that the administrative agencies also tend to develop unwholesome affinities to the industries they regulate. It is also felt that scientific and engineering experts have a bias in favor of accomplishing what they think can be accomplished. The proposed devil's advocate agency would investigate the areas of hazards and potential hazards, and would subject Congress to the pressures of public opinion.

Green, H. P.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A preliminary study of the Soviet civil space program. Volume 1: Organization and Operations

The organization, planning, and personnel is focused of Soviet space, advantage is taken of glasnost and improved foreign relations to explore a hitherto obscure subject. The way in which the civil space program obtains approval and funding is altered. Missions must be approved before the Supreme Soviet, and public opinion is beginning to play a greater role in the legislature's budget decision. The Soviet civil space program remains a collection of disparate elements, not unified by any national, centralized space agency. An attempt was made to catalog and delineate the relationships between the components proves helpful. There is little or no coordination of independent associations' efforts, and the planning process relied on previously to set priorities and allocate resources appears to be currently inoperative or in a state of flux. The civil space program is moving in new directions: toward budget tautness, more international interactions, an emphasis on civilian over military applications, commercialization, and fiscal accountability. This study is a snapshot of a dynamic subject, but hopefully on which has highlighted the critical elements to track.

Newton, Elizabeth K.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Prototype Space Technology Hall of Fame exhibit at Technology 2003: Analysis of data from computer-based questionaire

The U.S. Space Foundation displayed its prototype Space Technology Hall of Fame exhibit design at the Technology 2003 conference in Anaheim, CA, December 7-9, 1993. In order to sample public opinion on space technology in general and the exhibit in particular, a computer-based survey was set up as a part of the display. The data collected was analyzed.

Ewell, Robert N.↗
NASA NTRS1932

Statistics of the Bureau Veritas

Statistics are indispensable factors for the amelioration of safety. Through the reconciliation of accidents which may appear isolated to interested parties, they permit tracking of typical causes of accidents; conversely, they can prevent, after a serious accident due to some fortuitous cause, the taking of incautious measures under the pressure of public opinion, which always inclines to gauge the gravity of the causes by that of the results. Lastly, they permit appraisal of the efficacy of rules in force. We should add that statistics provide an agency of prevention for future accidents. A careful inspection of all signs of malfunction of material quite often prevents the occurrence of an accident. In this respect, many pilot's report, perfectly normal in every way as far as operation is concerned, can reveal much more interesting technical data than an accident, although it does not diminish the importance of statistics. Therefore, from the inception of its aeronautical service, at the end of 1922, the Bureau Veritas has kept annual statistics of all accidents which occurred in French civil aviation. In order to correctly perform their proper function, the statistics must be exact and sufficiently explicit and complete. To be exact, they must bear on all pertinent events, and on these alone. It is a matter then, first of all, defining the accident in such a way that no sinister detail bearing on the definition may escape control. The consideration of accidents to personnel only has appeared too limited. One of the essential qualities of statistics is to permit the taking of averages and in consequence to apply them ot a sufficiently large number; such is happily not the case in accidents to personnel.

Volmerange, Andre↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sustainable Resource Recovery from Trash, Waste, and Overboard Venting

Space travel and planetary missions for long-endurance human presence require Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) loop-closure. The air and water resource loops are generally closed with their processes having been established through extensive development, testing, and long-term use on International Space Station. Closure of the air and water loops have enabled oxygen and hydrogen sustainability. Carbon sustainability has yet to be addressed. Waste and trash, which also contains hydrogen and oxygen and abundant carbon have not been developed to the extent air and water have. Waste and trash have generally been dealt with in terms of simple safening, storage, and disposal. In externally disposing of waste, which includes C1 and C2 hydrocarbon gases, lost resources not only increase mission cost they can result in space and planetary pollution that can lead to unfavorable public opinion. With all this in mind, we explore the idea of carbon sustainability within closed-cycle waste, trash, and C1/C2 reprocessing. Starting from the current ECLS System roadmap, we identify resources that are not yet captured in closed-cycle processes but are lost when crossing the thermodynamic boundaries of an open system. Such pseudo-resources are trash, waste, and the gaseous carbon products of carbon dioxide reduction. We then consider different means and processes for minimizing pseudo-resource loss so as to “close the carbon loop.” There are cases in which pseudo-resources need to be externally discarded, such as reducing spacecraft acceleration mass. In this case we examine various processes that can be beneficial to missions even when these pseudo-resources are lost. An example would be the conversion of waste into propellant, which can produce thrust while at the same time reducing mass for transit acceleration (and ultimately propellant mass at launch), in which case we propose a means for evaluating the value of converting waste into propellant for different propulsion systems.

waste↗
NASA NTRS1979

A bibliography of space books and articles from non-aerospace journals, 1957-1977

This bibliography cites over 3,600 articles and books from the nonspecialized secondary literature relating to NASA and to aerospace-related themes. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author in the following categories: (1) space activity; (2) spaceflight: earliest times to the creation of NASA; (3) organization, administration, and management of NASA; (4) aeronautics; (5) boosters and rockets; (6) technology of spaceflight; (7) manned spaceflight; (8) space science; (9) applications; (10) space law; (11) international implications; (12) foreign space programs; (13) domestic public policy and opinion; and (14) economics: impact of NASA, analyses of aerospace industry, and patent policy.

Looney, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

The Weak Stability Boundary, A Gateway for Human Exploration of Space

NASA plans for future human exploration of the Solar System describe only missions to Mars. Before such missions can be initiated, much study remains to be done in technology development, mission operations and human performance. While, for example, technology validation and operational experience could be gained in the context of lunar exploration missions, a NASA lunar program is seen as a competitor to a Mars mission rather than a step towards it. The recently characterized Weak Stability Boundary in the Earth-Moon gravitational field may provide an operational approach to all types of planetary exploration, and infrastructure developed for a gateway to the Solar System may be a programmatic solution for exploration that avoids the fractious bickering between Mars and Moon advocates. This viewpoint proposes utilizing the concept of Greater Earth to educate policy makers, opinion makers and the public about these subtle attributes of our space neighborhood.

Mendell, Wendell W.↗
NASA NTRS1947

The Combination of Internal-Combustion Engine and Gas Turbine

While the gas turbine by itself has been applied in particular cases for power generation and is in a state of promising development in this field, it has already met with considerable success in two cases when used as an exhaust turbine in connection with a centrifugal compressor, namely, in the supercharging of combustion engines and in the Velox process, which is of particular application for furnaces. In the present paper the most important possibilities of combining a combustion engine with a gas turbine are considered. These "combination engines " are compared with the simple gas turbine on whose state of development a brief review will first be given. The critical evaluation of the possibilities of development and fields of application of the various combustion engine systems, wherever it is not clearly expressed in the publications referred to, represents the opinion of the author. The state of development of the internal-combustion engine is in its main features generally known. It is used predominantly at the present time for the propulsion of aircraft and road vehicles and, except for certain restrictions due to war conditions, has been used to an increasing extent in ships and rail cars and in some fields applied as stationary power generators. In the Diesel engine a most economical heat engine with a useful efficiency of about 40 percent exists and in the Otto aircraft engine a heat engine of greatest power per unit weight of about 0.5 kilogram per horsepower.

Zinner, K.↗