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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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A review was made of lightweight mobile nuclear power systems (LMNPS). Data cover technical feasibility studies of LMNPS and airborne vehicles, mission studies, and non-technical conditions that are required to develop and use LMNPS.
Satellite broadcast services to support health-care and educational transmissions must work with small, low-cost terminals in allocated radio-frequency bands. The ATS-6 spacecraft has successfully demonstrated such capability in the bands of non-technical users. It supports interactive television broadcasting to simple, low-cost terminals in a nationwide series of experiments in the delivery of health-care and educational services. ATS-6 achieves this capability with a very large antenna and moderate transmitter power. The coverage limitations inherent in this approach will be overcome by the joint U.S.-Canadian Communications Technology Satellite to be launched in December 1975. The CTS will demonstrate broadcast capability with new, high-power technology in a newly-allocated radio-frequency band. This will make it possible to use smaller antennas, greatly enlarging the area coverage available to the many nontechnical experimenters using CTS for their own needs. A practical application of these technologies is now in development for operational broadcasting services in Japan.
An overview of the capabilities of the Aircraft Sensor Analysis Package (ASAP) is presented. The approach is non-technical, and several output products are illustrated. The major features of the system are described in more detail than is found in the User's Guide to a potential user, or to a user looking for a specific capability to be incorporated in another system.
A summary for the Solar Array Manufacturing Industry Costing Standards report contains a discussion of capabilities and limitations, a non-technical overview of the methodology, and a description of the input data which must be collected. It also describes the activities that were and are being taken to ensure validity of the results and contains an up-to-date bibliography of related documents.
The training of technical writers and the objectives of such education are discussed. Special emphasis was placed on the communication between technical personnel and non-technical personnel. The liabilities that affect technical writers were also discussed.
A survey is given of the background and development of the unitary group approach and its graphically-based implementations for electronic structure calculations. The nature of the unitary group and its relationship to the electronic many-body problem are briefly discussed, as well as the reasons, purpose, and methodology of its application to this problem. As much as possible, this discussion is on a mostly intuitive, non-technical level. Finally, recent accomplishments and expected future developments are briefly mentioned.
A systematic approach for monitoring U.S. air traffic was developed in the context of system-wide planning and control. Towards this end, a network optimization model with nonlinear objectives was chosen as the central element in the planning/control system. The network representation was selected because: (1) it provides a comprehensive structure for depicting essential aspects of the air traffic system, (2) it can be solved efficiently for large scale problems, and (3) the design can be easily communicated to non-technical users through computer graphics. Briefly, the network planning models consider the flow of traffic through a graph as the basic structure. Nodes depict locations and time periods for either individual planes or for aggregated groups of airplanes. Arcs define variables as actual airplanes flying through space or as delays across time periods. As such, a special case of the network can be used to model the so called flow control problem. Due to the large number of interacting variables and the difficulty in subdividing the problem into relatively independent subproblems, an integrated model was designed which will depict the entire high level (above 29000 feet) jet route system for the 48 contiguous states in the U.S. As a first step in demonstrating the concept's feasibility a nonlinear risk/cost model was developed for the Indianapolis Airspace. The nonlinear network program --NLPNETG-- was employed in solving the resulting test cases. This optimization program uses the Truncated-Newton method (quadratic approximation) for determining the search direction at each iteration in the nonlinear algorithm. It was shown that aircraft could be re-routed in an optimal fashion whenever traffic congestion increased beyond an acceptable level, as measured by the nonlinear risk function.
Systems engineering is the application of mathematical and scientific principles to practical ends in the life-cycle of a system. A methodology for systems engineering is a carefully developed, relatively complex procedure or process for applying these mathematical and scientific principles. There are many systems engineering methodologies (or possibly many versions of a few methodologies) currently in use in government and industry. These methodologies are usually designed to meet the needs of a particular organization. It has been observed, however, that many technical and non-technical problems arise when inadequate systems engineering methodologies are applied by organizations to their systems development projects. Various criteria for evaluating systems engineering methodologies are discussed. Such criteria are developed to assist methodology-users in identifying and selecting methodologies that best fit the needs of the organization.
A panel was established to investigate the subject of real-time earthquake monitoring (RTEM) and suggest recommendations on the feasibility of using a real-time earthquake warning system to mitigate earthquake damage in regions of the United States. The findings of the investigation and the related recommendations are described in this report. A brief review of existing real-time seismic systems is presented with particular emphasis given to the current California seismic networks. Specific applications of a real-time monitoring system are discussed along with issues related to system deployment and technical feasibility. In addition, several non-technical considerations are addressed including cost-benefit analysis, public perceptions, safety, and liability.
Information is given in viewgraph form on the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) Control Center and the Oculometer and Automated Space Interface System (OASIS). Topics covered include SME mission operations functions; technical and non-technical features of the SME control center; general tasks and objects within the Space Station Freedom (SSF) ground system nodes; OASIS-Real Time for the control and monitoring of of space systems and subsystems; and OASIS planning, scheduling, and PC architecture.
The various regions of the magnetosphere-ionosphere system are coupled by flows of charged particle beams and electromagnetic waves. This coupling gives rise to processes that affect both technical and non-technical aspects of life on Earth. The CRRES Program sponsored experiments which were designed to produce controlled and known input to the space environment and the effects were measured with arrays of diagnostic instruments. Large amounts of material were used to modify and perturb the environment in a controlled manner, and response to this was studied. The CRRES and PEGSAT satellites were dual-mission spacecraft with a NASA mission to perform active chemical-release experiments, grouped into categories of tracer, modification, and simulation experiments. Two sounding rocket chemical release campaigns completed the study.
This paper describes an intelligent troubleshooting system for the Help Desk domain. It was developed on an IBM-compatible 80286 PC using Microsoft C and CLIPS and an AT&T 3B2 minicomputer using the UNIFY database and a combination of shell script, C programs and SQL queries. The two computers are linked by a lan. The functions of this system are to help non-technical NCC personnel handle trouble calls, to keep a log of problem calls with complete, concise information, and to keep a historical database of problems. The database helps identify hardware and software problem areas and provides a source of new rules for the troubleshooting knowledge base.
When the Macintosh computer was first released, the primary user was a computer hobbyist who typically had a significant technical background and was highly motivated to understand the internal structure and operational intricacies of the computer. In recent years the Macintosh computer has become a widely-accepted general purpose computer which is being used by an ever-increasing non-technical audience. This has lead to a large base of users which has neither the interest nor the background to understand what is happening 'behind the scenes' when the Macintosh is put to use - or what should be happening when something goes wrong. Additionally, the Macintosh itself has evolved from a simple closed design to a complete family of processor platforms and peripherals with a tremendous number of possible configurations. With the increasing popularity of the Macintosh series, software and hardware developers are producing a product for every user's need. As the complexity of configuration possibilities grows, the need for experienced or even expert knowledge is required to diagnose problems. This presents a problem to uneducated or casual users. This problem indicates a new Macintosh consumer need; that is, a diagnostic tool able to determine the problem for the user. As the volume of Macintosh products has increased, this need has also increased.
A marketing tool was created to expand the knowledge of LaRC developed polymeric materials, in order to facilitate the technology transfer process and increase technology commercialization awareness among a non-technical audience. The created brochure features four materials, LaRC-CP, LaRC-RP46, LaRC-SI, and LaRC-IA, and highlights their competitive strengths in potential commercial applications. Excellent opportunities exist in the $40 million per year microelectronics market and the $6 billion adhesives market. It is hoped that the created brochure will generate inquiries regarding the use of the above materials in markets such as these.
Laminar-flow control is an area of aeronautical research that has a long history at NASA's Langley Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Center, their predecessor organizations, and elsewhere. In this monograph, the author, who spent much of his career at Langley working with this research, presents a history of that portion of laminar-flow technology known as active laminar-flow control, which employs suction of a small quantity of air through airplane surfaces. This important technique offers the potential for significant reduction in drag and, thereby, for large increases in range or reductions in fuel usage for aircraft. For transport aircraft, the reductions in fuel consumed as a result of laminar-flow control may equal 30 percent of present consumption. Given such potential, it is obvious that active laminar-flow control with suction is an important technology. In this study, the author covers the early history of the subject and brings the story all the way to the mid-1990s with an emphasis on flight research, much of which has occurred at Dryden. This is an important monograph that not only encapsulates a lot of history in a brief compass but also does so in language that is accessible to non-technical readers. NASA is publishing it in a format that will enable it to reach the wide audience the subject deserves.
Whether in a classroom setting or at a local community meeting, opportunities for providing descriptive and positive information about our professions to an audience unfamiliar with acoustics, noise control or hearing conservation often call for alternatives to technical demonstrations that illustrate principles of acoustics or noise control. More importantly, successful outreach presentations must convey images of our day-to-day activities and the challenges we address, many of which are non-technical. One successful approach to career outreach presentations makes use of a collection of photo slides featuring the speaker, his colleagues, customers and workplaces to vividly illustrate the specific job tasks, people and environment of the speaker's job or career. Against this fluid and multi-dimensional visual backdrop, an accompanying script addresses the main theme. A comprehensive photo slide collection may be established gradually, often by making use of and adding to technical and personal slides already in the speaker's possession. Slide collections are portable, easily and quickly reconfigured for back-to-back or spontaneous engagements, and they are well suited to speaking opportunities where technical presentations or demonstrations are not practical or appropriate. A carefully chosen sequence of photo slides minimizes the need for speaker's notes, as each photo itself provides a visual prompt. Although photo slide presentations are appropriate to a variety of outreach and professional settings, the specific illustrative and explanatory material presented here illustrates their application in career education outreach activities, using industrial hearing conservation as an example.
The race to the Moon dominated manned space Fight during the 1960's. and culminated in Project Apollo. which placed 12 humans on the Moon Unbeknownst to the public at that time, several U.S. Government agencies sponsored a project that could have conceivably, placed 150 people on the Moon and eventually sent crewed expeditions to Mars and the outer Planets. These feats could have possibly been accomplished during, the same period of time as Apollo. and for approximately the same cost. The project. code-named Orion. featured an extraordinary propulsion method known n as Nuclear Pulse The concept is probably as radical today as t was at the down of the space age. However its development appeared to he so promising that it was only by Political and non-technical considerations that it was not used to extend humanity reach throughout the solar system and quite possible to the stars. This paper discusses the rationale for nuclear pulse propulsion and presents a general history of the concept. focusing particularly on Project Orion. It describes some of the reexaminations being done in this area and discusses some of the new ideas that could mitigate many of the political and environmental issues associated with the concept.
Current space project cost models attempt to predict space flight project cost via regression equations, which relate the cost of projects to technical performance metrics (e.g. weight, thrust, power, pointing accuracy, etc.). This paper examines the introduction of engineering management parameters to the set of explanatory variables. A number of specific engineering management variables are considered and exploratory regression analysis is performed to determine if there is statistical evidence for cost effects apart from technical aspects of the projects. It is concluded that there are other non-technical effects at work and that further research is warranted to determine if it can be shown that these cost effects are definitely related to engineering management.